Dummy's Guide to Living and Surviving in the Ninja World
by Ivy Moonlit Rose
Summary: Laura and I wake up in the world of ninjas. I won't lie and say I'm not happy because I am, but there are some problems. One problem is will we go back to our world? Heck I'm not even sure I would want to go back. Then there's the fact that all of the great nations are teaming up with the Akatsuki to fight against a common enemy. As for love, well that's a tricky subject.
1. Chapter 1: Back Home

This is the sequel to Dummy's Guide to Living or Surviving with Ninjas. If you have not read it then stop right now and go read it. If you have then welcome lovely readers, hope you're happy that we're back.

Anyways, just like with the first book, each chapter will begin with a note as this is the dummy's guide. The notes are dos and don'ts as well as facts.

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot. Now onward with the story.

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**Chapter 1**

_**Note: Once you've lived with ninjas, your home is never the same.**_

~Kahlan's POV

My fingers strum against the last cord to the song on my guitar. The crowd cheers and I give a small bow. I walk off stage going down the small steps as I head for the back. Once in the back I place my guitar in its case. I then look around to make sure no one is looking as I go into a corner and pull out a scroll. Unfolding the scroll, I place the guitar onto the scroll and add my chakra making it poof away. The scrolls that I'm using are the ones that were used to hold my weapons that are now stored in the attic back home.

Folding the scroll back up, I walk out of the corner grabbing my coat and head out the backdoor exit not bothering to stay; after all I didn't get paid to play on stage it was done for free. I place the scroll into one of the inside pockets of my coat then zip it up from the cold November wind of Memphis, Tennessee as I head for my hotel room.

It's not that long of a walk and I sigh in relief once reaching my warm room. Inside, I unzip my coat and toss it on the bed as I head for the bathroom. I have about an hour before I have to go to the bus station. Since it will only take fifteen minutes to get there, I'll be spending my time getting ready.

Inside the bathroom, I take my shoes off, pull off my purple plaid dress and torn leggings until I'm down to my undergarments. Carefully I remove the purple hair extensions in my platinum blonde hair. It's grown about chest length in the past three months.

Anyways, once the hair extensions are out, I strip the rest of the way then get into the shower. Turning the water onto hot, I bathe for about ten minutes, then get out dry off then keep the towel wrapped around my body. I blow dry my hair, brush it then head out of the bathroom. I go over to the packed suitcase and pull out torn jeans, a purple bandana, a black tank top and my undergarments. Once the clothes are on I put my hair up with the bandanna, leaving only my eyebrow length bangs down and some long pieces down as well.

Not wanting to spend another minute in the hotel, I gather everything else putting it all into the suitcase that I then place into a scroll. Pulling on my black coat, I zip it up then head to the front desk. It takes a couple minutes to checkout and then I'm out the door walking down the sidewalk to the bus station.

When I get to the station I find that it is a bit empty. A little weird to see it empty at night, but I guess they're not that busy tonight. So, I go over to one of the checkouts and buy a ticket that takes me to Jacksonsville, Florida then take a seat in one of the many plastic chairs.

While waiting, I pull out my I-pod and listen to music. It quickly passes the time and I'm on the bus on my way to my next destination. I take a seat way in the back knowing there will be other stops to pick up other people and I don't want to be around anyone. People have become very talkative with one another since…three months ago.

Leaning my head against the cold window, I stare at the dark scenery as it passes by. After being gone for three months I'll be heading home. My first month I spent traveling was with Laura but then had her go back home while I continue on my own. I did exactly as I planned but…I never did find myself, I didn't need to look.

Anyways, I don't fall asleep on the bus ride. Ever since the war ended, since…the ninjas have been…gone I hardly ever sleep anymore. I should probably see a doctor but I refuse to take any type of medication. I've been in contact with my parents. I've bonded with my dad a lot, and even though my mom has finally accepted that music is the career path I have chosen our relationship is still a little rocky.

When the ninjas…left, the president and the military was able to quickly bring everything else to an end. Any fans that partook in fighting got sent some place to help them out. I don't really know I didn't bother listening to the news. Cape Breeze went under immediate reconstruction after they made sure it was safe. I don't know if it's completed yet, or if people even go there anymore for tourism. The mayor might find a way to bring in more tourist now than before, but it doesn't matter that much to me.

As for the manga and anime Naruto, it still gets published and aired but only in Japan. Before it was only restricted to Japan I was able to read all of the English chapters but was unable to watch the show. However, just because it's restricted to Japan that doesn't mean that people haven't found a way to get it into the States because they have.

I arrive in Jacksonville around ten-ish the next day. Getting off the bus, I head over to the people behind the glass to get a ticket that will get me as close to Cape Breeze as I can get. Lucky for me the bus was there, so after buying my ticket I get on the bus with a few minutes to spare. The unlucky part is that the bus is crowded and I'm left standing.

One person tries to talk to me, but I ignore them. So they started talking about their life story which I totally tuned out because I saw no reason for listening. I wasn't on the bus to make friends only to go home.

Thankfully, my ride was only an a few hours long and I happily got off with other people. Once off, I unzip my coat loving the nice cool breeze. It's a lot warmer down here then it was up north but still has a nice coolness to it so you're not suffocating.

Placing my hands in my jean pockets I start walking. Cape Breeze is a mile away, and the walking won't hurt me any. So, I walk until I'm far away from the station, away from civilization and into the woods. Once in the woods, I gather chakra in my feet and take off running to my destination. Yeah…I never stopped training even though everyone…they were…are all…gone. Though, training was a bit hard to do on my own and even harder to get done when in large populated cities. Sometimes the only training I did was running with weights on and practicing doing hand signs which I must say I have gotten better at.

As I get close to Cape Breeze, I stop running. In fact, I head for the road leading into the city-ish town. When I find the road, I start walking again. Cars pass by, a few honk their horns at me but I pay them no mind. Well, the cars that honk their horns I give them the birdie.

My eyes roam over everything, taking in the sights and smell of Cape Breeze. Some places are still under construction while other places are busy with costumers. There are lots of help wanted sings in windows which is good for the economy. A lot of the buildings look like they went with an upgrade and new look. I guess the war ending was good enough reason to change some of the buildings since some of them did need a new look.

The people on the street though are a different story. A lot of the old faces I remember that pass by around town are gone, probably moved away not wanting to stay. The people that seem to have stayed seem to be more cautious and stare at everyone suspiciously. All of the new faces, well they're all happy and smiling. A large group of friends walk by, some of them joking, laughing, arguing and some not saying anything at all. It causes me to stop in my tracks for a moment as I push back any memories from coming to the surface.

Once that moment passes I continue walking. The only time I stop is once I'm standing in front of the door to my home. I stare at it feeling my heart twist as I slowly bring a shaking hand to the door knob. Slowly, I turn it finding it locked. With a small frown I walk around towards the back knowing it's the one door that always stays unlocked, because it has no lock.

I open the backdoor and glare at it as it squeaks. The hinges will need to be oiled, which can be done later. Walking into the dark kitchen, I use the sunlight to find the switch to turn the light on then close the door. I make my way over to the fridge to get something to drink. When I open it I notice how little food there is inside. That makes my heart twist more and my throat to feel like it's closing up.

Grabbing a bottle of orange juice, I shut the fridge and continue my way out of the room. Walking into the next room I turn on the light and stare at the empty table. It's lunch time but…there's no one…but that's because…I look away and walkout to the hall.

My feet stop in front of the closed parlor door. My pale green eyes narrow and I look away remembering that some of the meetings had taken place in that room. Taking a deep shaky breath I continue on stopping in the doorway of the living room. The TV is off but there are some movies out and on the table, probably from Laura. I frown as I close my eyes from the silence. Everything seems so empty.

I climb up the stairs to the second floor. I'm greeted with an empty hallway that has doors on both sides. Still there is nothing but silence and I can feel my heart breaking all over again. I bring my hand to my mouth to hold back any noise I make as I walk to my purple bedroom door.

Once inside, I close the door and lean against it for a moment. Tears threaten to spill as I look around at the destruction of my room that I left behind. That day when we returned home…I was so broken…so angry…in so much pain. They were all…they are…and they not coming back.

A sob escapes as I slowly sink to the floor. While gone I could ignore the pain, ignore the fact that I missed them all. But now I'm back…the house…this place…no more arguing…no more fights…no more anything…it's all gone…they are…never to…I miss them.

I cover my face in my hands as I start sobbing. This home is no longer the same. Nothing is the same anymore. I can't go back to the life I was living before they were here. I don't want that life what I want…I want Itachi back…and Konan…and all of the Akatsuki and Konoha…I want everyone back…but they're not coming back. I know that, but I keep hoping…a miracle will happen…because it's so much better to hope…then to accept the fact that…they're gone. But inside this quiet…empty house…it really hits the fact home, and there's…no more hoping and pretending. So, I sob and scream, throwing anything in my reach just to…fill up the silence…to help ease the pain.

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**Viola chapter one, yeah not much but a way to start the story and to give some information about what has been going on since the ninjas have been gone. Quick note, for now the story will be updated twice a week, every Monday and Friday. This may change to a daily update though in the near future.**

**Anyways, thanks to any old reader who stuck with us through the first book and are now joining us on the journey of the sequel. Thanks to any new readers. We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and will enjoy this sequel. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	2. Chapter 2: Storm

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 2**

_**Note: Life changes over time but you always remember the past.**_

~Laura's POV

"Hey Boss~ it's time to close up!"

"Hai~ I hear ya~ everyone~ we're finished for today~!" I call throughout the new and improved 'Neko Yuki' café as many calls are returned.

I run the café now since… Yuki died in the war… the café collapsed inwards and it seems she was in the café when it happened. In her will she left this place and her money to me, she left Mimi her home along with her babies, her cat and kittens by that, she only left Tom late husband's suits which made me laugh a little.

The government rebuild most of Cape Breeze everyone who survived the war was re-homed or they moved out of Cape Breeze. Since I was left 'Neko Yuki' I kept the name for my late Boss, Yuki, but I put up help wanted signs as soon as the café was built and one new waiter and waitress as well as a new cook have joined my staff.

Mimi now has a friend called Dino who is Italian, he's about twenty-two with messy blonde hair which somewhat reminds me of the style of Minato and pale blue eyes.

Our new waitress called Marina who is Spanish, she's about eighteen and she finished high school this year so this is her first job, she has elbow length light brown hair and clear green eyes.

Our new waiter is called Joey who is half American and half British (so happy to have another person from England here) who is nineteen, he has blonde hair like Dino though his hairstyle reminds me of Sai for some reason and he has light brown eyes.

The new staff members have been a great addition since Cape Breeze has been pretty well since the war as many people have wanted to visit here since its some new tourist spot again though people wouldn't normally think that because of the ninja war here but it has been quite busy as we would have normally got about three-hundred people a day before the war and we almost get over six-hundred on a busy day! It's amazing to see so many people though it is now a bit of a handful for my staff, I might need to get another chef and waiter or waitress to join soon if the numbers of customers continue to grow.

Ahh I am getting VERY off track… umm… err… oh right. I own 'Neko Yuki' now and Cape Breeze is slowly getting back to its normal self… just without… you know… the Akatsuki… and Konoha ninjas.

I sigh a little while walking into the now more modern changing area where the whole room is painted red with white carpets, the lockers are purple and the two sofas on either side of the room are purple, there are pictures on the wall to give the room a more welcoming aura which everyone who are female seem to love.

I quickly change into a new kimono I made which is white with black roses on it while it has black lace all over the ends of it like, ends of sleeves, the bottom and top of it.

"Good night everyone~" I call as everyone starts leaving the café, leaving me at the counter taking the money out of the cash register, I plan to put it in my bank account on my way home.

"Buenas noches," Marina calls back with a wave and I know it's her because of her really tanned skin… plus I know her voice I am epic like that!

"Buona notte!" Dino calls back with a small smirk and wave and I know it's him since that is Italian and I know… very little Italian.

"Good night!" both Joey, Mimi and Tom reply as I start gathering what I need before following them to the door and locking up, they are all nowhere in sight meaning they are all heading home since it's about nine pm.

I yawn a little while rubbing my eyes with the sleeve of my kimono before slowly walking in the direction of home which is Kahlan's home, even if we both have the money to live by ourselves I prefer living with Kahlan, I feel safer and more at home with her.

On my way back home, I put the spare money from the cash register into my bank before heading straight home… okay I stopped on the way for ice-cream… its awesome do not judge me! Meanies!

I yawn while walking and soon arrive at home as I pull out my keys before pushing them into the keyhole, turn them to the right before pushing the door open, yawning as I do so. I really need to start getting better sleeping times since I go to sleep about eleven while I wake up about ten since twelve is when I have to open the café.

I step through the door to get some sort of colourful paper thrown on me, looking up I do indeed see colour paper! I grin and look to Kahlan who is grinning, colourful paper in her hands.

"Welcome back," she greets as I glomp her with a grin.

"That's my line~ welcome back Kahlan~" I sing while hugging her, I haven't seen her in two months it feels like forever. "Missed you lots Kahlan, did you have fun performing?" I ask with puppy eyes as I notice she has been crying but I won't ask why; till we both get comfy at home.

"I had fun, I have snacks ready in the living room," she says with a grin as I quickly run into the living room with her following, I jump into my favourite seat and snuggle a pillow as the movie start screen of 'Alice In Wonderland' is on the screen, the new one.

"This feels so different," I say while thinking, yeah… we don't have the Akatsuki with us so it's very different.

"I know," Kahlan says while picking up a bowl of Doritos which I snack on a few of them, I love Doritos. I smile a little while curling up in the sofa with my own bowl of Doritos and Kahlan starts the movie, leaning back into sofa with her own bowl.

I yawn loudly while watching the movie and place my bowl onto the coffee table, curling up in the sofa as I close my eyes, I'm not really in the mood for a movie, I'm pretty tired from work. It takes me moments to fall asleep and I continue to have the most strangest dreams but also the saddest as they bring back memories.

I have little mini dreams of training with Kisame, some dreams of taking pictures of everyone with Kahlan… and even… he-he… a tiny movie night with Deidara which I don't remember properly.

I soon wake up with a yawn as I open my eyes a little to see Kahlan crying, a photo album in her lap as I notice a familiar picture I look at sometimes. It's a picture of all the Akatsuki members on the sofa with different expressions like Sasori looks bored as well but Kahlan and I were able to catch a picture of Sasuke and Itachi smirking at the camera as Kahlan and I give it the peace sign… sneaky camera went off without a warning.

"Kahlan, are you okay?" I ask while sitting up in my sofa seat, rubbing my eyes while doing so.

"I'm… fine," she says which causes me to frown a little as I move over my seat a little, I see the picture better and blush a tiny bit as Deidara has his arm round my shoulder while I am also blushing a bit in the picture… I love this picture.

I lean on her shoulder as I hear a rock of thunder outside in the garden, "there was a storm when the Akatsuki came too," I say with a frown as Kahlan drops another tear onto the page while I try to wipe the rest of the tears coming, away.

"I know," she says while slowly closing the book and standing up, "I'm going to stand outside for a little bit," she says as I yawn a little and follow after her, opening the door and standing up there in my kimono but I still have my shinobi shoes on while my forehead protector is hidden under my kimono since I never leave home without it now.

My shoes tap against the stone tiles near the door as I step out onto them then onto the grass. I take a long breath in before sighing; this cool air is pretty relaxing.

"This is nice I guess," Kahlan says while walking beside me as I watch a strike of yellow/purple lightning hit in the background which causes me to gasp and jump a little in excitement; that was sooooo cool! "That was strange," Kahlan says while eyeing the clouds in the background which are moving very quickly towards us.

"How strange?" I question while watching the epic lightning clouds quickly come above us but what puzzles me is why they just stopped… like time is frozen in our area.

"That is strange!" Kahlan yells while pulling me close to her while falling backwards onto her back as the lightning strikes the ground around us but it doesn't strike once… but many times. "Stay close to me," she yells over the thunder as I feel myself becoming light headed and I watch Kahlan as her eyes close closely as well.

The last thing I see… is lots and lots of purple lightning strikes.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and will enjoy this sequel. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	3. Chapter 3: New Place

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 3**

_**Note: When in unknown territory proceed with caution.**_

~Kahlan's POV

I don't know how long the lightning last. They say lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. Well whoever said that was lying. However, the way everything seem to freeze and then the lightning striking around us multiple times is very scary and strange. For a moment, I wonder about the Akatsuki and Konoha but quickly push that thought away.

For a while all I see is blackness. There isn't a speck of light, no warmth or coldness. All there is…is nothingness. There is nothing to feel physically and when I try to search for an emotion or a thought, it flutters away from my grasp. It would be annoying if only I could feel the annoyance.

Eventually the nothingness changes, the black becomes grey. Emotions and thoughts can be hold in my grasp if only for a few moments. But there is no one in sight. I can't see myself or Laura. I try calling out for her but no sound escapes me. The only thing keeping me company is me, myself and I. What is going on?

Soon color starts taking over the grey, but there are no shapes, no shadows. I try to call out for Laura again; however, like before no sound comes out. All I can do is hope she is okay.

Time passes…at least I think it passes…and the colors before me start fading. For a few seconds (or however long), the blackness takes over without taking away my thoughts and emotions. Whatever has been going on ends when my eyes flutter open.

I stare up at the many trees and stars in the pretty night sky. A cold wind blows by and I shiver in my coat. Quickly, I sit up with wide eyes as they roam around. Besides the fact that I'm in a forest…or woods instead of my backyard, I also realize the drop in temperature. I ignore all of this as my eyes land on Laura curled up and passed out.

"Laura," I say shaking her, but she continues sleeping.

I keep trying to shake her awake, but she continues sleeping. Sighing, I look around to see if any of the scenery is familiar. The answer is no; all that I see are giant thick trees. My eyes then fall upon a nearby photo album. Scrambling on my hands and knees, I go over to the album. Picking it up, I realize it is the photo album I was holding onto during the weird storm.

For a moment I hold the album close to me, slightly rocking back and forth. Once that moment passes I pull out a scroll going through the process of placing the photo album inside. With it in the scroll I put it in my coat. The scrolls carries my purple butterfly guitar that Itachi got me, my cello and music, clothes (and other stuff that I packed for traveling during my trip), hidden blades and Sais as well as my bear Rellik and camera. Now the photo album is in the scroll as well.

Since I don't know where we are, I start gathering sticks. I'm not going to climb the top of a tree (I still fear heights so don't judge) to see if I can find any familiar landscapes. And I'm not going to wander in a random direction. Well I'll wander when the sun is up.

Anyways, I collect a bunch of sticks, twigs leaves and put them all in a pile. I don't have any matches or a lighter and I don't have any survival skills to make a fire, but I don't need any of that. With a small sad smile I gather a little chakra. Once I'm ready, I quickly do hand signs thinking 'fire release fireball jutsu' and blow out a small stream of fire. It takes a few seconds and the firewood is burning, so I stop the jutsu.

With the fire going I move over to Laura and pick her up. I carry her over then place her down nearby to keep her warm but far enough where she doesn't roll into the fire. I sit down with my knees pulled to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs. Absent mindlessly I stare into the dancing flames. My thoughts flutter around, not holding onto a single one for too long.

The warmth coming from the fire makes me sleepy and I yawn. I haven't slept in a week, but going to sleep now could be dangerous, so for once I'm forcing myself to stay awake. A few times I find myself about to doze off so I get up and walk around our very small campsite then go back to sit down in the position I was sitting in before.

Time seems to crawl and if it wasn't for the fact the fire died with each passing moment I would think that time wasn't moving at all. As the fire starts dying to smoldering embers and the sun starts climbing over the horizon I stand up to stretch. Zipping up my coat, I carefully pick Laura up and carry her piggyback style. With chakra gathered at my feet, I take off running east, that's right, in the direction the sun is rising.

For a good two hours I run without any breaks, though I did stumble a few times, stupid tree roots. However, I am still human and eventually come to a stop. I carefully place Laura down with her back leaning against a tree. Wiping the sweat away from my eyes, I look around the forest. Birds are chirping happily flying from tree to tree. Squirrels play a game of chase with one another. And all of the forest animals are doing whatever forest animals do. With all of these animals there has to be a source of water somewhere.

"Stupid storm," I mumble as I rub my eyes tiredly.

With a yawn, I gather up my chakra as I place my hand in the correct hand sign. After collecting a good enough amount I create a shadow clone. Thankfully I don't have to worry about ordering it what to do as it takes off. Well…I hope I didn't have to order it…I mean myself…whatever I'm getting a bit too tired to think.

"Laura," I say as I crouch down to shake her.

She mumbles swatting my hand and I sigh a little. She looks tired so I'll let her sleep some more. With a small sigh, I go to lean against an opposite tree and wait for my clone. My eyes drift close and I'll jump up with a start then shake my head so not to fall asleep.

I shake my heads when I receive memories from my clone where to find water. Going over to Laura, I pick her up back up onto my back. I take off running in a northeast direction, ducking under lower branches and jumping over tree roots. About ten minutes later I come across a small stream. Carefully while keep Laura on my back, I crouch down and scoop up some water and greedily drink it up.

Once finish, I wipe my hands on my torn jeans and stand up. I look across the stream to notice how the trees seem to be thinned out just a bit. Gathering chakra to my feet once again, I walk across the stream, used to the fact that my chakra causes the water to sizzle and create steam. And once on the other side I start running again.

A few moments I come out of the forest onto an empty dirt road that has another forest on the other side. I tilt my head slightly in confusion because I don't know any place in Florida that is like this. I'm starting to get the feeling we're nowhere near home any more.

Looking in both directions, I carefully take my right and follow the dirt road. My eyes constantly roam everywhere as my body stays tense for any danger. Time doesn't help to relax me, it only makes me tenser, but nothing ever happens. Not wanting to continue moving so slowly I start running again.

"Kahlan," I hear Laura says tiredly a few minutes later. She yawns then asks, "What's going on?"

"I'm looking…for civilization," I reply unsure. I should have thought about that before I had taken off running. "Yeah civilization, that's what I'm looking for."

"Where are we," she asks starting to sit up a bit.

"Some random unknown place," I reply feeling the air and temperature change. It's becoming a bit warm and stuff with each step forward. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," she replies then yawns.

"That's good," I reply. "You can go back to sleep."

"I'm okay," she replies. "I can walk."

"Are you sure," I ask slowly coming to a stop.

"Yep," she replies.

With a nod I stop sending chakra to my feet. I then slow down to a jog then to a walk until I stop all together. Slowly, I crouch down and let her off my back. She gets off and stretches. She makes a face when her joints make popping noise and I chuckle. She sticks her tongue out and I chuckle again.

"Okay," I say looking forward. "Hopefully we find some people or civilization soon."

"Do you want me to climb to the top of a tree?"

"Only if you want to," I reply rolling my shoulder to get them to crack.

Laura nods and brings her hand up to gather up her chakra. A few seconds later she runs towards a tree and starts running up it. I unzip my jacket feeling hot and stuffy instead of cold, well it's only a tad cold but it leans more towards being hot. In the back of my mind it brings forth a memory but I choose to ignore it.

"There's some sort of town up ahead," Laura says as she jumps down. My heart seems to stop as she stands up and walks over, I really can't stand how Laura and…the ninjas were able to jump down from such heights with no problem.

"How far away," I ask as I grab hold of her hand.

"A mile I think," she replies with a thoughtful look.

"We can make it," I reply grabbing hold of her hand.

She smiles and I give a small smile back. We start walking towards the town and I keep my eyes and ears on the lookout for any danger. Laura starts talking about what she has been doing for the past two months and her café Neko-Yuki. I smile at her proudly at being able to run the café but I feel a bit sad that her boss…previous boss is gone, but was kind enough to leave Laura the café and money. She talks about the costumers, the old and new employees.

After running out of things to say I tell her about my traveling since she's been gone. How some places actually paid me money for singing and others wanted to hire me but I turn them down and how some places didn't give me any money. I told her I decided to have a band and call it 'Remembering Dawn.' She asks about why I chose that and I fall silent for a few moments before telling her how I found out Akatsuki meant dawn and…well it was a way to keep them alive even if it was just for a band name. We both stay silent for a while after that, probably lost in memory and sadness.

I then bring up about how I've been bonding with my father a lot after getting tired of the silence. She is happy to hear that and I chuckle. We then talk about how my father was able to track us down during the time we traveled together and surprised me on my twenty-first birthday. He bought me the cello that I carry in my scroll.

Eventually we make it to the town. There's an archway type thing at the entrance that has words in an unknown language that looks very similar to Japanese. The place is really hot that it reminds me…of the time at the hot springs during the anime con with…no I won't think about it.

"Let's ask someone where are we," Laura says with a grin.

"Sure," I say a little unsure as my eyes move from person to person.

Laura is the one who leads the way. My head keeps moving from side to side trying to soak in everything. However, I tug on Laura's hand bring her to a stop as I hear someone speaking.

"That is fucking cute," someone says and my thoughts think Hidan, which Laura probably thinks the same thing because her eyes widen. But it can't be Hidan because he's…we saw him…no it just can't be him. "This one is fucking better. Ah, I don't fucking know which one to fucking choose. I'll just fucking get both."

"An excellent decision," replies a man.

Slowly turning around I see two men, one behind a stand of some sort looking like he's selling jewelry. The other man is out in front of the stand. He has silver hair that is messy, a blue shirt with a black vest and blue trousers. He hands over money to the man behind the stand and happily claps his hands when the man hands over a small bag.

"Ame will fucking love these," the man outside the stand says.

"Tell your wife I said hi," replies the man as he hands over some change.

"I fucking will," the silver hair man replies with a wave. Just as I thought, he isn't Hidan. Argh, I can't believe I even miss Hidan he was such an annoying loud mouth who needed a good ass kicking.

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**Okay so I thought it would be a good idea to explain what happens and what it felt like traveling from one world to another. Anyways, we hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	4. Chapter 4: Hot Spring

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_**Note: When talking to a friend's parent, act like a perfect child… or at least try.**_

~Laura's POV

"Umm… excuse me!" I call to the man with messy sliver hair who… just brought jewelry for his wife it seems, maybe he knows where we are but he should since… he seems to LIVE here. I wave a little as he glances to us with his grin still there and turns on his heels to see us. "Do you happen to know where we are?" I ask as I tilt my head to the side to give him a set of puppy eyes.

"You don't fucking know where you are?" he asks with a raise of a brow before covering his mouth and laughing, leaving me very confused. "didn't you see the huge fucking sign on the fucking gates?" he asks while chuckling loudly as it takes quite a few minutes for him to stop laughing, tears in his eyes. "Oh my fucking god," he says while wiping his eyes, tears still in them as he wipes them away.

"We're being serious you know," Kahlan says with a tiny glare which he catches while breathing normally again.

"Ha-ha… you're being fucking serious?" he asks while widening his eyes a tiny bit which causes me to nod with a pout and puppy eyes. "Oh," he says while slowly raising his hand to his neck while giving a sheepish grin, kinder like what Naruto does, "we're in the fucking Hot-Spring village, you know," he says with his sheepish grin as I blink.

Isn't that the village in Naruto… and there is Japanese writing and well… Japanese type stalls and lots of forest and… oh Yay… we're in the Naruto world as well… but without the Naruto characters… just… awesome.

"Never heard of it," Kahlan says with a confused look as I think for a moment, did that thunder storm transport us here or something? Well that is just very strange since… it was purple lightning and it striked more than once… very-very strange indeed.

"Well we're a huge fucking tourist spot with huge fucking awesome hot springs," he says with a proud grin before looking at us both carefully, "you both don't fucking look like your around here," he says while eyeing us both as I look myself over, there is a little dirt on my kimono but not a lot since the ground seems pretty dry for some reason, maybe it hasn't rained around here for some time.

"We're not," Kahlan says as I nod my head and fiddle with the long kimono sleeves which goes pass my hands. I look round the village as I notice everyone seems to be pretty happy and going about their lives without a care in the world.

"Can I ask you about something, but I don't think it would be a good idea to talk about it right here," I say while giving a concerned look which he slowly nods at, his grin wavering a little.

"Sure," he says while his grin returns but twice as much, "I'm sure my fucking wife won't fucking mind," he grins a bit more while stuffing his small bag into his pocket and starts to lead the way to somewhere, probably his house.

"What are your fucking names anyway?" he asks as I pull my sleeves down to cover more of my hands. It's really hot here but my body doesn't seem to sweat much, only if I exercise if it's the heat then it's kinder hard to sweat, call it a British Advantage.

"I'm Laura Wilson,"

"My name is Kahlan Ward," Kahlan says a little on edge as Ken seems to chuckle a bit as we say our names.

"Weird fucking names, never fucking heard of them," he says before grinning to us two as I question his logic as he is wearing a vest when it is very boiling right now. "I'm Ken Koizume by the fucking way," he says while grinning more and looks round the area, probably seeing that Kahlan and I are getting weird looks for our off clothing. "Any reason for the fucking weird clothes?" he asks with a smirk as I think for an excuse.

"I always wear kimonos,"

"There is nothing wrong with what I'm wearing," Kahlan says while narrowing her eyes at Ken for a slight moment till he holds up his hands in defeat.

"I never fucking insulted them," he says with a slight tune of laughter in his voice as I giggle listening, he acts like a bit of a teenager like that. I then notice he has blue eyes which match his shirt and trousers.

"Yeah," Kahlan says while looking round the village and I notice there are a lot of stalls out and everyone does seem happy as I see some people walking into the hot springs and some people walking out, looking much rested.

I yawn a little and rub my eyes as I look up to Kahlan who has slight black bags under her eyes, probably hasn't slept in a few days by the look of it.

I eye a place and grin while noticing what it is, it looks like a pet center as there are pictures of dogs with bandages on and cats with a small fever as they have an ice pack on their heads.

I watch as he pulls out some keys and unlocks the door while the house is next door to the vets, he pushes the door open without a problem and he grins to us both, letting us walk in first.

I smile a little while walking in and looking round at the pictures and paintings littering the walls.

"Ame~ I'm fucking home! I brought some girls who have fucking questions!" he says with a tone which I am confused by but Kahlan seems to catch on which causes her to glare a little at him for some reason.

"What are you talking about," a woman asks while walking out from a room on the left, she has really long black hair which is tied into a high ponytail and she has pink-purple eyes which are really pretty… they remind me of Hidan for some reason.

"They have fucking questions, hugs my love," he sing with a grin while glomping her which results in 'Ame' whacking him over the head… with a bamboo type of stick… okay… not strange at all… but awesome.

"Don't be an idiot, Ken," she says while giving him a warning glare before looking to us calming, smiling as well, "my idiot husband said you have some questions?" she asks as I nod my head quickly, puppy eyes as she smiles to us both before looking to the room she came from, "you can ask us over some lunch, if that is alright," she asks with a smile as Ken's eyes seem to light up as he takes his hands off of his head and sprints off into another room.

"Yeah, sure… I mean thank you," Kahlan says before blushing as her stomach decides to make itself noticed while mine doesn't, I'm a little hungry but I ate a lot of Doritos before we came here.

Ame only seems to smile as I skip into the room and almost gasp at the room, its soo pretty. There are glass cupboards with crystal animals in them as well as really different jewelry in these cupboards.

"Oh my god these are soo pretty," I say with a giggle while looking at these extremely cool crystal swans while one has red wings and the other has blue wings, they are together on a mirror like platform. There is also a kitten crystal where its front paws are up in a playful type of fashion. Another is two wolfs in crystal, they look like they have been carved into the crystal and there is a calm type where the calm is complete crystal where the pearl in it is blue. There is one that stands out which is an owl and its wings are brown crystals.

"Oh, collecting crystal animals is my hobby as well as gardening," Ame says with a smile before sitting down on one of the white sofas with her smile.

"I'm almost fucking done with fucking lunch!" Ken seems to yell from the kitchen as Ame looks to the kitchen for a second before looking back to us.

"One of my questions… is what is going on here… like with Konoha and the… Akatsuki," I ask with puppy eyes as Kahlan looks to me then to Ame who blinks a little confused at me for some reason.

"Oh… well the Leaf's Hokage as well as many ninjas from each village went missing for many months, you would think a lot of trouble would start because of that but nothing really happened," she says with a small sad smile as I think over what she said… they went missing for many months… but that must mean… "They came back about six months ago but none of the missing ninjas will tell anyone what happened while they were missing. The Tsuchikage as well as the Mizukage also went missing as well, but everything seems to have gotten back to normal but…" she says with shaded eyes as I see Ken walk in with a long tray of lots and lots of food.

"Lunch is fucking done!" he says with glee while plopping down on the sofa beside Ame before hugging her, she returns the hug for a moment before pulling away and letting Ken kiss her before turning to us.

"Let's have lunch before I continue," she says as I nod a little as I pout… damn she ended on a cliff hanger… 'But' as well.

"That is fine," Kahlan says with a smile as Ken passes everyone a plate, he has the most food while Ame and Kahlan have the 2nd most while I have the least, which is fine since I'm not that hungry so yes! EPIC AWESOME!

I pick up one of the small cakes on the plate and try it and quickly pick up a napkin to spit it out… eww… it has nuts in it.

"Don't' fucking like it?" Ken asks with concerned eyes which almost look hurt as I nod my head, causing him to pout.

"I don't like nuts and some other stuff," I say with a small awkward laugh as I continue, "I'm a really picky eater," I say while putting the cake to the side of my plate, eww… not trying that again. Ken nods kinder disappointed but he seems to grin a little as I watch Kahlan take the cake from my plate and put it on her own.

I give Kahlan a smile as I eat the rest of my lunch which is some sort of sandwich, juice I have never tried before and some sort of soup I also have never tried before… I get the feeling I won't know any of the foods here. Even if I know some Japanese food and know how to make them, the Japanese MAKE them completely different in their own home.

"That was very nice," Kahlan says with a small grin which makes Ken grin proudly with a small blush on his face, he must love cooking for people and compliments or something.

"Thank you~" I sing with a grin as he takes everyone's plate and walks off to the kitchen to probably wash them.

"Fucking welcome!" he yells back from the kitchen causing me to laugh a little, he's awesome very epic like.

"What was I saying before," Ame seems to ask herself as I think back… what was she saying?

"Something about everything getting back to normal with the missing ninjas then you said 'but' then stopped," Kahlan says with her awesome memory as that clicks in my head, oh yeah she was saying that if I remember correctly.

"Oh yes," Ame says with clapping her hands slightly in remembering, "as I was saying, but the Akatsuki changed their plans completely as… I'm not very sure what they were doing before but now they are just bounty hunting as well as giving warfare to other nations and countries as well as clans, it's almost like they are renting and giving out their powers to fighting countries." Ame says in thought as she looks down to the floor a little.

"I'm fucking back~!" Ken calls while running into the room and jumping onto the sofa before sitting down, acting very childish which causes me to laugh a little, he is so awesome like that.

"I'm just glad our son is okay," Ame murmurs softly while looking to us both, unshed tears in her eyes as she smiles to us both.

"Hidan is a fucking idiot," Ken says with a bored tune while leaning back into the sofa, "fucking retard so fucking full of himself," Ken says while looking to the ceiling with a bored look before getting whacked with the bamboo stick again, "Sorry!" he yells as I hide the shock face I have right now… Hidan? As in stupid Hidan who annoyed everyone in the Akatsuki? HE'S ALIVE?! Well this is the Hot spring village so… oh god… oh god… everyone… is alive?

"Ignore my husband," Ame says while looking to us both, "You two don't seem to be around here, do you have a place to stay tonight?" she asks with a concerned tone as I pout a little at the fact that we don't and that she reminds me of Konan, so caring but very scary at times.

"We don't," Kahlan says as I lean into her, pouting a little since I don't wanna sleep outside even if it's really hot outside, it doesn't look very comfortable out there. Kahlan pulls me closer while I hug her, I really don't want to.

"Well… you two can stay with us for now," Ame says with a kind smile as Kahlan looks up to her as I continue to hug Kahlan.

"Thank you, are you sure though," Kahlan asks as I look to Ame who nods with a smile on her face, Ken slowly lowers his hands from protecting his face but grins as well, probably getting to cook more from the look of it.

"YES! More fucking people to fucking cook for!" I was very right! I AM EPIC LIKE THAT!

"How old are you two anyway?" Ame asks with a confused tone as I stretch a little in my seat but pout and make a face as my joints click.

"I'm twenty one and Laura is eighteen," Kahlan answers as I continue to stare at the little crystal animals, so-so cute~! They are super adorable as well.

"Okay, we only have one spare room so I hope you two don't mind sharing," she says as Kahlan nods softly and I pull myself away from the crystals and grin to her. I don't mind at all. "Can you show us the room we'll be sharing?" Kahlan asks as I eye the fox crystal before looking to Ame with slightly sleepy eyes as I am still a little tired.

"Yes," she says while standing up from her seat as Ken grins to us all before running off into the kitchen.

"I'll start on a fucking huge fucking dinner!" he calls out to everyone as Ame starts leading the way, I cling onto Kahlan as we walk, I get the feeling something is going to happen… I can just feel it.

I look round the fairly large house till we get to a room with a black door which Ame opens for us. Looking round the room, I notice that it has new paint and carpet since it looks like it hasn't been used at all recently.

I see a large navy bed while the walls are a dark blue and the carpet is black… not bad. I slowly walk into the room while looking down before plopping down on the bed, super soft too.

"Is it okay if I take a nap for an hour or two or more," I say with a smile as Ame smiles back and nods her head.

"Sure, I'll bring a kimono for you to wear when you wake up," she says with a smile as I nod back to her while yawning loudly, covering my mouth. I look to Kahlan who gives me a quick hug before pulling away.

"I'll be helping around a bit so have a good nap," she says with a smile as I nod my head a little tired before rubbing my eyes.

I watch the two leave the room and close the door slowly. I stretch my arms out before lying back onto the bed, staring at the wall as thoughts start being passed around in my head. So Hidan is alive and they have all come back to their world… but from the sound of it the Akatsuki have changed so… we screwed up the plotline… oops.

I roll onto my stomach as I think a little, everyone is alive… meaning… Deidara… he's alive!

I smile a little to myself but it soon fades away… he broke his promise that he would come back… I didn't even get to say goodbye or even… I…

I rub my cheeks as they start to heat up but try my best to push my thoughts to the back of my head and close my eyes; I really need a nap, all this thinking will end up in me crying a lot.

I let sleep slowly takes over me as I dream weird and confusing dreams… I hope Neko Yuki is working fine without me; Tom is in charge when I'm not there.

My dreams soon come to a sudden end as I hear screaming outside the house. I quickly look round the room I am in to remember that I am in the Naruto world. I nod my head slowly as I remember and quickly change into the kimono that is laid out for me, it is dark red with black vines coming out from the sides of it.

I yawn a little while walking out of the bedroom and follow the way back to the living room where everyone is, Kahlan seems to look a little pale but also happy while Ame and Ken are acting normally.

"Why are there people yelling outside?" I ask as I hear another close scream.

"AKATSUKI!"

"Quickly! Hide!" I hear more yelling as my heart stops all of a sudden… the Akatsuki? Does that mean… everyone? Or at least a pair of them?

Pushing the fears aside, I quickly rush out of the entry of the house and open the door, rushing out of it as I feel Kahlan's hand grasp onto mine before running in front of me, flashing me a happy yet really sad smile. I grin back and my heart stings as well. I really-really hope they remember us… I… I don't know what I'm going to say to them either… please god let them remember us.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

**For those of you who guess it was Ken you were correct. We thought it would be nice to have Ken in this story, and you guys get to meet his wife Ame. Anyways, we hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	5. Chapter 5: Search

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_**Note: With some reunions, someone gets hurt.**_

~Kahlan's POV

The Akatsuki are…alive. Does that mean the others are alive as well? How is that possible…ah forget it I don't care. Practically anything is possible when it comes to ninjas. We need to find them.

"You two need to come back inside," Ame says from behind us. "They are still considered dangerous."

"But…." Laura starts to say pouting, but I squeeze her hand and shake my head.

As much as I would like to run and see who it is, it would be a bad idea. I am assuming we're no longer in our world and are in the world where all the ninjas came from. The land, rules, language and all other jazzy stuff about this world puts us a little at a disadvantage. We may know about some of the people, but it's not like we know a lot about everything else.

"Sorry," I say as I walk inside with Laura.

"Is it our fucking idiotic son," Ken asks as Ame closes the door.

"We didn't see anybody," I reply pulling Laura to the hallway.

"That's fucking fine," Ken says as he waves the spatula in his hand. "I'm almost fucking done with breakfast."

"Okay," I call back as Laura and I enter the room we're sharing.

Closing the door I let go of Laura's hand and walk over to the closet. Opening it I pull out my coat and put it on. Once checking my pockets to make sure I still have the scrolls I look up to Laura and give a small smile.

"What are we doing," Laura asks looking a bit confused.

"We're going to sneak out and track down those Akatsuki members," I reply, whispering.

I know I said it would be a bad idea to see the Akatsuki members, but…I don't care. If they hadn't come into our life then I wouldn't sneak out with Laura. But they did come into our lives and changed it. They're our family and one of them *cough*Blondie*cough* needs to have an ass kicking.

"When," Laura asks her eyes lighting up.

"After breakfast," I reply after a moment. "I'm going to pretend to go to bed. You can pretend to use the bathroom or whatever. We'll leave behind clones and have them dismiss themselves when Ken and Ame are in bed sleeping. Anyways, we're going to find a window and from that point we'll search for the Akatsuki."

"What if they don't remember us," Laura asks with a pout and her bottom lip trembling.

"I…don't know," I reply looking down as I bite on my bottom lip.

What in the world would we do if they don't remember us? Ame said that all of the missing ninjas returned six months ago, but back home they've been gone for three months. If that's the case then for every month back home, two months pass here. Could they really have forgotten us? Just thinking that they might have forgotten makes my heart feel like it's going to be ripped out of my chest.

"Let's hope they didn't forget," I say a moment later giving a small smile

"Breakfast is fucking done," Ken yells happily. What a weird man.

"We're coming," I yell back. Turning to Laura I say, "After breakfast."

She replies, "Okay."

Together we walk out and head for the living room. The table is set up with plates, drinks and food. Laura and I sit on one side together while Ken and Ame sit on the other side. There are a few screams here and three from outside but it's mostly quiet down; probably because a bunch of people have gone into hiding.

"Thank you," I say to Ken with a small nod.

"You're fucking welcome," he replies with a grin. He turns to Laura and says, "There are no fucking nuts this fucking time."

Laura nods with a small smile and takes a bite of the small cake on her plate. When she doesn't spit it out Ken gets a huge grin and starts eating. I look at the food that I have no names for. I see rice so I know that's safe to eat and I see something that looks like an omelet that's rolled up. Using the chopsticks I try my best to cut up the omelet looking roll and mix it into my rice then start eat.

"Is there any salt," I ask placing down my chopsticks. I like salt; I add it to almost all of my food (never sweets because I don't like the mixture), that's why I always have to run. I have to taste at least a hint of salt and…well there is none in the food.

"I added enough fucking salt," Ken says.

"Okay," I reply not wanting to cause much trouble. We are guest here if only for a little bit.

Picking up my chopsticks, I go back to eating the food. The entire time I have to keep myself from just getting up and to get salt. Ken isn't a bad cook, in fact he's really good…as in his food is five star restaurant quality good, but the way I eat my food is a habit that is extremely hard to break.

"Thank you again," I say finishing my food. I cover my mouth to yawn then say, "I'm really tired. I hope you don't mind I take a nap for a little bit."

"Not at all," Ame says with a small smile. "You look like you need it."

"Just fucking wake up for fucking lunch," Ken says.

"I will," I reply with a small chuckle that turns into a yawn. Damn, I'm trying to fake my yawning but they come out being real. That's what I get for not sleeping.

I give Laura a hug and whisper, "Good luck." Standing up I give a small smile to Ken and Ame. "See you in a few hours."

I walk out to the hallway and head for the bedroom. Closing the door, I quickly gather up chakra and make a clone. Once the clone is made, I place on my shoes as my clone goes and lies down under the covers. Ah, I didn't have to order myself around to do anything, that's good.

Since the door opens inwards, I go to stand near it that way when it opens I'll be behind it. I wait a few minutes and the door starts opening. Pressing my back against the wall I wait and see that it's Laura.

"Kahlan," Laura says looking to the bed as she creates a clone.

"Behind you," I whisper loud enough for her to hear.

She turns and I wave to her, the clone waves before walking out. "I'm ready," she says and I nod.

"Let's go then," I reply moving out from behind the door. "Is the coast clear in the hallway?"

Laura pokes her head out of the room and looks both ways. Bringing her head back in she smiles and says, "The coast is clear."

"Alright," I reply grabbing onto her hand.

Taking the lead, I walk out of the room quietly. Turning in the direction away from the living room, my eyes move quickly as I strain my ears to catch any sounds. We slowly walk, keeping close to the wall. I try my hardest to breathe in and hold my breath for a minute then repeat the process. It helps to keep me calm and to hear things like Ken and Ame talking somewhere in the direction of the living room.

We come across a door so we stop walking. Carefully, I place my hand on the handle to see if it is locked. The door opens without a problem and so I poke my head in. It's an even larger bedroom than the one Laura and I are…were sharing. The carpet is a nice fluffy blue-green color, the walls are a pretty green color, and the bed is blue. My eyes take all of this in and then lands on the window. Bingo, an escape route.

"We found our ticket out," I whisper pulling Laura in and closing the door.

Laura smiles and says, "Awesome."

"Yep," I reply letting go of her hand as I move towards the window. After checking it out for a moment I see that it really isn't that different than the ones back at home, so I open it up with ease.

"Okay Laura," I say turning to her. "We'll have to stick low to the ground once we're outside. When we hit the streets…we'll pretend to be scared and looking for a place to hide."

"But we'll really be looking for the Akatsuki," Laura says with a grin and I nod my head.

"You go out first," I reply moving to the side.

She gets an uncertain look on her face for a moment but then nods. I keep looking back to the door as Laura climbs out. The sound of footsteps walking causes me to tense but I dare not rush Laura. Rushing could create unnecessary noises and we'll get caught.

Once Laura is outside, I place one foot out then another. Quietly, I lower my feet to the ground and remove myself out of the room/window. Once out, I turn to the window place my hands in. Carefully, I pull down the window until my hands are touching the bottom. Taking my hands out, I place them on the glass and force the window shut the rest of the way from the outside. With it close I wipe my jacket sleeve over the spot where my hands were then duck down in the bushes just as the bedroom door opens.

"Crawl," I whisper to Laura.

With a nod, Laura starts crawling away from the window staying close to the house. Getting down on my stomach, I army crawl not caring about getting dirt on myself. When we reach the side of the house I point over to the house that is two houses down from where we're at.

Laura slowly gets up and dashes out to the house next to us. She gets back down and I peak to make sure the coast is clear. Quietly getting up, I dash over next to Laura. We once again crawl until we get to the edge of the house and once again repeat the process reaching the house I pointed to.

"Now we pretend," I whisper.

"Okay," Laura says with a smile.

Laura stands up and brushes some of the dirt off her. The smile disappears as she starts to look scared and pouts. I give her a thumb up and she runs out to the street. Tightening the bandanna in my hair, I stand up not bothering with dusting myself off. I run out to the street to join Laura keeping my face down a little. My acting skills may have improved slightly, but I don't want to risk the chance that I might screw this up. So if I keep part of my face hidden no one can tell if I'm faking or not.

Laura and I stick together while we run from building to building for a good half hour, makes me wonder how big this place is. I let Laura do the acting, as she slightly cries asking for help, but no one comes. That's a good thing because then that means no one can stop us. However, it also shows they care about themselves and don't want to risk any chances.

"We can check in here," I say pointing to one of the buildings that looks a little like a resort.

"Okay," Laura nods. She takes the lead and goes inside.

There is a man and he quickly jumps under the desk to hide. I raise my brow but say nothing, just keeping my head slightly down. Laura walks over to the desk and I stay behind forcing my body to slightly shake.

"Excuse m-me sir," Laura says.

"I d-d-don't want any t-trouble," the man replies from under the desk.

"We just want help," I say making my voice low like a child which makes it sound like I'm sad, but whatever.

"We n-n-need to hide," Laura says, her voice sounding shaky with fear. Thank goodness for her acting skills.

The man pokes his head up. He shakes his brown hair from his brown eyes and looks to both of us. Shaking his head he points to the doorway. "Find somewhere else, the Akatsuki are in here."

Laura gasps covering her mouth. The man looks to her and I drop down to the ground. Immediately the man goes to hide back under the desk. Slightly tugging Laura down, I point to one of the hallways. She nods and starts crawling. I quietly walk over to the side of the desk. The man has his eyes squeezed shut while covering his head and mumbling stuff.

Standing up I knock down the bell. The man screams and moves under the desk even more. Shrugging my shoulders I go over to Laura as she looks at me with a look that says she is wondering why I did what I did. Grabbing her hand I pull her down the hallway.

"I just wanted to see how well we could move around normally," I say to explain my actions.

"Oh," she replies but sounds confused.

"He was too scared to pay attention to anything, which means we could walk around anywhere and he wouldn't notice."

"Ah," Laura replies a few seconds later. "Where do we go now?"

"Um…we open each door," I reply with a small frown. This plan wasn't thought out as much as it should have been.

"Should we make clones?"

"No it's fine," I reply then go to open a door to find it lock.

Laura removes her hand from mine and goes to open one of the other doors, but it doesn't. Not wanting to be rude (And possibly see things we don't want to see) we continue going from door to door. Any doors that we're able to open are empty. So, once clearing out the hallway we turn down another hallway repeating the process. This goes on for a while until we reach a place that looks like a undressing room that has lots of steam.

"Hello," I call out but get no answer.

"Is there anyone in here," Laura asks.

We walk until we reach an empty hot springs. With a sigh, I grab Laura's hand and we head back in the direction we came from. It is time to check the other side of the building.

When we reach the front, I see the man still cowering under his desk. We walk to the other side without the man noticing us. I shrug and we go back to doing our search going through the process all over again.

"I don't think they're in here anymore," Laura says pouting after about thirty minutes of searching.

"This sucks," I say kicking the wall. It makes me feel just a little better so I kick it again. Man, I was so hoping we would find them but we're just coming up empty handed. "Freaking…stupid…ninjas," I say as I once again kick the wall.

"Who in the hell is kicking the wall, yeah," asks a very familiar voice.

Laura freezes and I turn to see the door just a foot away open and a very familiar blonde walking out. I just stare for a moment as Deidara's eyes land on us. His one visible blue eye widens. I look at Laura to see her tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Laura," Deidara says without his little speech problem.

I watch Laura walk over to him then slap him across the face. She then hugs him and her legs give out. His arms wrap around her waist holding her up as she starts crying.

"You promised," she yells into his chest. "You promised but you didn't keep it! I missed you! I was lonely without you because you didn't keep your promise!"

I watch Deidara mutter something and I look away crossing my arms. My eyes look around waiting; maybe I should have been kicking the walls from the start. I wonder who else is here. Should I kick some more walls? Maybe I should kick in some doors? No, I won't kick down any doors.

I look back over after a while to see Laura pulling away wiping her eyes. Walking over, I pull Laura behind me then punch Deidara in the face. He takes a step back and looks at me with slight shock and a little glare.

Glaring back I say, "I promised I would be kicking your ass if you hurt Laura." He slightly looks down his glare leaving. Just to rub it in his face how much he hurt Laura I add, "I always keep my promises."

"Gomen," he says.

"Who else is here," I ask crossing my arms.

"Just Konan and I, yeah," replies Deidara.

"Is everyone else alive," Laura asks.

"Yeah, un," he replies looking up over at Laura.

Everyone else is alive. They're all alive. Itachi…Leader…Naruto…all of our family and friends. They're all alive. I want to ask where the others are but my voice doesn't want to work. But Konan is here.

I take off running and start pounding on each door calling out for Konan. It doesn't take long for one of the doors to open and Konan is standing in the doorway wearing a blue yukata that has purple butterflies.

"Konan," I say my voice cracking a bit as my eyes blur my vision for a moment. I quickly wrap my arms around her in a hug. "I missed you," I whisper just as her arms return the hug.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	6. Chapter 6: Happy

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 6**

_**Note: Once all the sadness is gone, the happiness soon replaces it.**_

~Laura's POV

I… don't know what to say right now… ever since they disappeared or 'died' I couldn't help but think 'they aren't coming back', 'they are coming back I know they are', 'if I cry will they come back' but mostly 'if they do come back… what do I do'.

Right now though, my heart is beating so fast I can hear it in my ears, I can't stop crying and I don't want to look at Deidara right now. No doubt I look horrible from all the crying.

Truthfully… inside… I'm really happy. I'm also sure that these are tears of happiness.

I hear light ninja like footsteps come towards me and arms wrap themselves round my waist as I'm pulled into a hug. "Please stop crying, un," I hear being whispered into my ear as slowly bring my hands down from my eyes and grip onto his yukata.

I take some slow deep breaths till I look up at him, my eyes covered in unshed tears and tears still running down my cheeks, "I'm… happy though," I say softly as my throat is still clenched, making it hard to speak. "I'm… just happy you didn't forget me," I say softly while looking to the side a little, my cheeks heating up a tiny bit meaning I am probably blushing.

"I couldn't forget you, yeah," I hear him whisper to me softly back as I blush a little more and lean my chin on his shoulder with a bit of difficultly since he is much taller than me but I can barely do it. I softly hug him round his neck as I rub my eyes a little, sniffling a tiny bit.

"I was really, really lonely… Kahlan left to travel for two months…" I murmur while gripping his yukata a bit more, "I was… alone," I murmur as I rub my eyes as more tears start to fall… I was all alone for two months… without the Akatsuki and without Kahlan.

"Sorry," he mutters as I feel his grip tighten around me, "so sorry, un," he mutters again as I snuggle a little into his shoulder, trying to say it's okay since my throat is hurting me a little. I rub my eyes a little more as I feel my heart beating against my chest loudly, it's a kinder nice feeling but my stomach is doing front flips and back flips right now.

I look round the hot spring room slowly as I feel my throat slowly unclenching, letting me breath again.

I soon see the desk man looking at us both in complete shock but I spare him a small smile before pulling away from Deidara slowly, smiling a little as I rub the tears on my cheeks away. "You scare people," I say a little more normally while signaling to the desk man which he glances at for a second before chuckling slightly.

"I know, yeah," he says with his chuckle as I feel another tear fall down my cheeks, I'm really happy to see Dei again, I… ya know… umm… I… lo… OK you know!

I watch as he wipes away the tear with a small smile before brushing my fringe to the side… and… eto… umm… k… kisu (Japanese… for kisses)… my forehead… before letting my bangs fall back into place.

I blush a brighter red as I see his cheeks redden slightly before grinning at me.

"L-Let's go find Konan and Kahlan," I shudder slightly as he gives me a small grin before letting go of me and softly grasping onto my hand, giving it a tiny familiar squeeze before leading me into the hallway, closing his door while walking pass me and leads me down the thin and long hallway.

As we walk I continue giving his hand tiny squeezes which are always returned, it… just reminds me that I'm not dreaming… this is real… I'm really-really happy right now.

"Konan!" I yell as I see her standing in front of Kahlan while Kahlan looks like she has been crying almost as much as I have. I quickly let go of Deidara's hand and glomp Konan where she stands, I feel the hug back automatically as I rub my head against her collarbone while whining loudly, shouting how much I missed her. "I missed you… so… so much," I whine as some more tears escape from my eyes before I look up to her, Konan's eyes are a little puffy so I guess she has cried a little as well.

Proving my point right, a tear escapes her as she hugs me back, "I missed you so much too," she says back as I whine a little in my throat before pulling away with her, a tiny smile on her face as I rub the tears away with the kimono Ame lent me.

"Why… why are you guys here anyway," Kahlan asks while looking from Konan and Deidara, Deidara will no doubt have a bruise from where Kahlan and I hit him… well I slapped him for breaking his important promise and Kahlan because she promised to 'kick his ass' for hurting me.

"We were taking a small break from the group, things are getting quite intense back at the base," Konan says with a small sigh before smiling to us both, wiping the tears from her eyes as she speaks.

"Yeah, everyone is on edge lately, hmm," Deidara adds while walking over to us three before taking my hand and giving it a small squeeze, the squeeze itself reminds me when we were all a family and before the war.

"So, what do we do now," Kahlan asks while bringing her hand up to her chin, looking down while thinking as I glance to everyone's faces, they all seem to be thinking while I have no idea, I really don't want to leave Konan and Deidara but it would be rude to leave without telling Ken and Ame goodbye, they were kind enough to let us stay at their home, feed us very lovely food and look after us, even when we went to find the Akatsuki; Ame told to stay inside so we would be safe and Ken adjusted his cooking to suit my fussy tastes.

"How long have you two been in our world," Konan asks while looking to Kahlan then to me.

"Since yesterday I think," Kahlan says with her thinking face, "we were staying with a couple called Ken and Ame Koizume; they both said that they were Hidan's parents."

"Weird, Hidan said he killed them, hmm," Deidara adds while pulling me closer and looking to Konan and Kahlan as they think, I shall listen.

"For now, you two will return with us," Konan says while giving us both a small happy smile which causes me to grin and hug Dei tightly, I don't have to leave, I don't want to either. "You two should tell the couple your both leaving, it would be polite thing to do," she says as Kahlan nods before looking to me, I give her a pout before gripping onto Deidara's navy blue yukata; I don't wanna go I wanna stay with Dei.

"Laura we have to tell them," she says which makes me pout more and whine, "I know you don't want to leave… Deidara… but we won't be long… plus if Deidara came he would scare them," Kahlan says which reinforces the words that I said before about Deidara scaring people. See I told you.

"Fine," I say with a pout while ever so slowly pulling my arms off of Deidara who frowns a little before giving me a reassuring grin. "I'll be quick," I say with a pout as he leans down a little and… aha… eto… umm… k-kisu my cheek, earning a huge glare from both Kahlan and Konan.

"Be safe, yeah," he says with a grin as my cheeks heat up, blushing a lot before nodding softly before I am dragged off by Kahlan.

"We'll see you two back here," Kahlan says before giving them both a small sad smile before walking towards the entry of the hot springs, causing my stomach to turn at leaving without Konan and Dei. Kahlan gives me a smile which makes me smile a little back; we will be back.

It is also weird how when the desk man saw us he trembled a little before bowing… it was strange and I question why.

"So we go back to Ame and Ken's home?" I question as Kahlan nods her head with a smile, they were very kind and I need to give Ame a hug… maybe Ken… maybe if he's nice and sane when we see him again.

"Yeah, we need to thank the both of them," Kahlan says as we take many lefts, rights and straight turns till we find their home, I think we may have gotten lost in this kinder big village but we do find them… epic like… getting lost on the way BUT STILL EPIC LIKE!

I quickly hop to the door and knock on it with a tune of 'pop goes the weasel' in the memory of Itachi. Strangely enough the door opens on the tune of 'pop… goes the weasel' which makes me giggle mentally.

Ken opens the door before giving us both a confused look, "when did you two fucking get out?" he asks with a very confused tone before shrugging his shoulders and letting us both in again, the confused look still on his face as we walk in.

I quickly walk into the living room and see Ame sitting down on the sofa while looking at an owl necklace which I think Ken brought at that stall earlier.

"Um… Ame," I say softly which causes her to look up from her necklace and to us two. She gives us both a very sweet smile before standing up from her seat on the sofa.

"Yes?" she asks while pulling her really long hair to the side to put her necklace on. "Is there something you two need?" she asks as I feel my throat clench a little… oh no… I don't wanna say.

"Thank you very much for letting us stay here," Kahlan says before bowing like Itachi did before to her parents when he thanked them, "but we will be taking our leave now," Kahlan says while slowly moving out of her bow as I look up to Ame before bowing myself and standing up straight.

"Where will you two be going, if you don't mind me asking," she asks as I think my heart clench for a second before looking down.

"Truthfully… with the Akatsuki," Kahlan says as I look to her before looking to Ame, Ame looks very confused and worried at what Kahlan says before nodding her head slowly.

"Alright… I will not question your reasons… since you two seem to have made up your minds," she says with a small sad smile before bowing slightly to us, "I hope you enjoyed your stay with us," she says before straightening herself out and smiling to us both.

"You both being fucking suicidal!" Ken yells at us both before shaking both of us, eyes wide as he does that, "they are fucking evil people and your fucking villagers!" he yells before he is whacked over the head with the bamboo pole as I take out Kahlan's scroll before opening it, pulling out the photo album and sliding out a picture I think Ame and Ken would enjoy.

"The Akatsuki… their members… they are like family," I say while looking down to the spare picture, its all of us together on the sofa and we're all grinning… well the ones with emotions are. "See," I say while handing Ame the picture of our group, she looks at it before a few seconds before smiling a little and nodding her head.

"I see, well, be careful you two," she says with a smile before handing Ken the picture which causes him to chuckle a little.

"We will," Kahlan says before grabbing my hand after I put the photo album away and tell Ken to keep the picture. "Thank you for having us," Kahlan says with a smile before pulling me out of the living room and out the door as I wave bye-bye to the two who smile and wave back or for Ken, grin, shout weird things and wave.

"So we get to see Konan and Deidara again?" I ask with a sparkle in my eyes as Kahlan laughs a little before nodding her head, smiling as well. I grin with glee before grabbing her hand and dragging her back in the direction of the hot spring though we again get lost but soon find our way back to the hot spring.

We walk in while I almost spring in, wave to the desk man who bows quickly while shaking as I walk back to Kahlan and start pulling her towards the room then freezes… which room are they in? Deidara and Konan have separate rooms.

Kahlan seems to notice the problem as well before walking calmly over to the wall and kicking it, making me jump as she yells, "we're back!" she yells which makes the desk man and I jump… well he hides under his desk as I jump a little on the spot.

"Would you stop kicking the wall, yeah," I hear Deidara yell from inside of his room as he walks out with a slightly annoyed look on his face, causing me to giggle at; he looks annoyed which is kinder funny to see.

"I didn't know what room you guys were in," Kahlan says while giving Dei a small glare while shrugging. I take the chance to glomp Deidara who gets rid of his annoyed look which is replaced with a chuckle and a small grin. Yay I get grins.

"Missed you," I whine while snuggling into his chest as I feel him hug me back. He whispers something to me which I don't quite catch because I see Konan walk down the hallway towards us with a smile.

"It seems you two are back," she says with her smile as I smile back, very happy right now, I really hope this isn't a dream because if it is I will start crying since… since… I don't want this to ever end.

"Yeah," Kahlan says with a smile as Konan looks to us both before nodding her head.

"You two can stay with us for tonight… it will be two in each room," Konan says slowly and unsurely as I cling onto Dei, not letting go as he grins and calmly rests his arms round my waist.

"I don't wanna leave Dei though," I whine which causes both Konan and Kahlan to sigh.

"Okay… but Deidara I promise you, if you do anything stupid or irresponsible I will murder you, ninja or not I promise you I will kill you," Kahlan warns while glaring at Deidara as I see Konan glaring even more at Deidara.

"That goes double for me, Deidara," Konan says with death lacing her words as I am very tempted to hide right now… it's that scary.

Deidara holds his hands up to Konan and Kahlan with a pretty scared look on his face, "I won't, I promise, yeah," he says which causes Kahlan to glare even more.

"And look how your last promise turned out," Kahlan says with her glare as Deidara seems to glare back at that before lowering his head, looking to the floor.

"I promise, I won't, un," he says calmly as I expect him to yell more but he doesn't… this is strange for Deidara… very… very strange.

"Well, us three girls will take a soak in the hot spring in ten minutes," Konan says with a smile to lighten the mood as Kahlan nods and I grin, a soak sounds really nice right now. "My room is on the far right of the left, the last door," Konan says as Kahlan nods her head, "I'll be getting some more yukatas for you two," she says while walking off towards the entry as Kahlan gives me a tight hug after pulling me away from Deidara to do so.

"Be careful and you can slap him if he tries anything, okay," Kahlan warns while letting me go as I laugh a tiny bit before nodding my head, I will yell but I won't hurt Dei. I still feel a little guilty about the slap from before.

"Let's go, yeah," Deidara says while walking back into his room and leaving the door open for me. I give Kahlan one last hug before walking into the room and closing the door.

My nerves are on edge for some reason and I have no idea why.

I look round the very nice room till I spot Deidara's Akatsuki cloak hanging up which I quickly walk over to and take to down. I look it over before putting it on and giggle as I see it hits the floor, that's how big it is to me.

I hear a chuckle and see Deidara sitting down on a futon, watching with a cheerful grin as I turn around with his cloak on, quite happy as I walk over to him and plop down on the futon while looking round the room. The walls are solid and I can smell the very clean air, yep this isn't our world.

"Anything new happen in the Akatsuki?" I ask while holding my hand up and notice how huge the sleeve is to me, I grin watching the sleeve slid down my hand and notice how baggy it is as well.

"Yeah, there is no more Tobi or Zetsu, hmm," Deidara says with his grin and I nod, that's why he's soo happy, there is no more Tobi. I smile a little then hear the door being knocked on.

"Laura, we're ready," I hear Konan call as I pout a little and stand up, I get a quick hug from Deidara before I hand him back his cloak and jog/skip over to the door, open it up and head off to the hot springs with Kahlan and Konan… I am soo happy right now I really hope it doesn't end.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	7. Chapter 7: Base

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

_**Note: Traveling makes you sleepy, even more so when traveling in the cold.**_

~Kahlan's POV

Sinking into the hot spring I let out a sigh. It feels really good and is helping to relax all my stiff muscles that I didn't know were stiff. For a moment my eyes close as I sink lower and smile just a little.

Opening my eyes, I see Laura swimming in the shallow part of the hot spring. Konan gets in, and sinks until the water is touching her chin. Leaning back I close my eyes again feeling myself slightly drift into a half sleep state.

"How did you two get here," Konan asks after a few minutes.

"I think it was a thunder storm," Laura replies. I make a small humming sound in agreement. "There was a lot of purple lightning. It looked sooo cool but it was kinder strange because it kept striking more than once."

"When I woke up," I say without opening my eyes. They're getting too heavy to keep open. "We were in a forest. Long story short, half a day was spent walking to this village. Then we came searching for you guys after breakfast when people started yelling about the Akatsuki."

"And the rest is history," Laura says cheerfully.

"Purple lightning," Konan says in a questioning tone.

"Yeah," I reply with a yawn forcing my eyes open.

"When we get back with the others it would be good to tell Leader-sama," Konan says.

"Okay," I reply as I reach for my towel. Standing up I quickly wrap it around me. "I should get some sleep, Lord knows I need it."

"Can you find your way back," Konan asks. With a small smile I nod my head. "Okay, I will be there in a few minutes."

"Okay," I reply then turn to Laura. "Take care, I'll see you when I wake up and remember to slap Deidara if he does anything."

Laura pouts and I just wave going inside. Drying off, I put on the yukata Konan got me then pick up my clothes. With a large yawn I walk out and head to the room Konan and I will be sharing. Once inside, I pull out my scroll, gather chakra up and summon Rellik.

Putting the scroll back in my coat, I climb onto the left side of the bed-ish looking thing, snuggle close to my lovely bear and I fall asleep without any problems. I get no nightmares about the war. Yes, even now I still dream about the people that I killed and how they drag me to hell to make me pay, thankfully I always wake up before they do anything. I don't mourn for them anymore; I stop a week after the war because they were people I didn't know. However, I think the nightmares I get is from the guilt of taking their lives, but if it was to happen again…I'd probably kill them again, because just like every person I want to live.

Anyways, I have no nightmares. My dreams are filled with…nothing, I don't dream about anything, at least I think I don't. That's a good thing because really I don't want to be waking up from a cold sweat.

My eyes flutter open to see a white wall. Yuck, I hate white walls. With a yawn, I stretch letting go of Rellik then sit up in a sitting position. Rubbing my eyes I look around the room. Bright light flutters through the window touching everything. I ignore all the furniture because it's not what I'm searching for.

"Konan," I call out worried that everything was a dream. No, I can't think like that. I'm very positive it was all real. I'm sure there is a really good reason why she's not in the room.

Standing up I stretch again until I hear all my joints pop. Going over to my coat, I pull out my scroll and go through the process of getting clothes out. I pull on a pair of faded blue jeans under the yukata. With them on I take the yukata off and pull on a purple tank top with red butterflies then placed on my coat. Finished I place the rest of my clothing back into the scroll along with Rellik and it once again returns to my coat pocket.

Grabbing my purple bandanna, I use it to put my hair up with just my bangs and a few strands down. The door opens as I'm picking up the yukata. Looking up I see Konan walk in. I sigh in relief and smile. See, I was right she was out of the room for a reason, everything wasn't a dream.

"I was coming to wake you up," Konan says as she takes the yukata. "We're going to leave in a few minutes to head back for the base."

"Ah…okay," I reply with a nod. "Do you know what time it is?"

"It will be noon in five minutes, that's when we're leaving."

"Thank you," I reply smiling.

She gives a small smile in return then walks out of the room. With one last glance around the room, I walk out to go find Laura. I replay the route to Deidara's room in my head then start walking. When reaching the room I go to knock on the door but stop. Chuckling, I kick the wall a few times. Immediately the door swings open with a glaring Deidara and I wave.

"Good afternoon," I say innocently.

"Stop kicking the walls, yeah."

"I wasn't kicking the walls," I reply honestly. It's true I was only kicking one wall not all of them.

"Yes you were, now stop it, yeah."

"Whatever," I reply rolling my eyes and placing my hands into my pockets. From now on I'll be kicking any wall to annoy Deidara. It should be fun. "Is Laura awake?"

"She's taking a shower, yeah."

"You're not taking a peak at her are you," I ask glaring dangerously.

"No, un," he replies.

"You better not," I say in a warning tone. "Otherwise say goodbye to your manhood, and Konan will be on my side."

Deidara mutters something and I kick the wall. He glares and I smile then waltz right into the room. Going over to one of the chairs, I take a seat. A moment later Laura walks out of I assume was the bathroom with wet hair and wearing the kimono Ame let her borrow. We're going to have to return that to her once we can get some clothes. Well, I'm sticking with my clothes we just need to get some kimonos for Laura.

"Afternoon," I say.

"Kahlan," Laura says happily and gives me a hug. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did," I reply with a small chuckle. "It felt really good. Did you sleep well?"

"Yep," she replies with a huge grin.

"Did Deidara do anything," I ask as I glance over to the blonde putting on his Akatsuki cloak then look back at her.

"Eh…n-not really," she replies her face slightly turning red.

"Not really," I ask raising my brow.

"We were j-just hugging," she replies looking down as she covers her face. Her face becoming redder and I chuckle a little bit.

"Alright," I say ruffling her hair. "I'll take your word."

She gives me a slight glare and I laugh while ruffling her hair again. She swats my hand away and then quickly moves away. Smiling, I stand up and wish I had gotten out my camera earlier. All of those wonderful sneak attack pictures I can take can be awesome…and possibly used for blackmail.

"We're leaving now," Konan says from the doorway.

"Awesome," Laura says with a grin.

Deidara chuckles and places his hand in Laura's. I watch as she looks up at him with a small blush and gives his hand a small squeeze that he returns. Placing my hands in my pocket, I walk over, stand on my tip toes and place my face right in the middle of them.

"You know if Sasori-Danna is at the base," I say with a thoughtful tone. "I don't think he'll like the fact of waiting."

"We weren't doing anything, yeah."

"Exactly, you should be walking," I reply, trying my hardest not to grin.

"Kahlan," Laura whines and I look to her and smile.

"You two can keep holding hands," I say as I walk around them heading for the door that Konan disappear from. "Just be careful."

I walk out and down the hallway hearing the two of them behind me. The last sentence was a warning for Deidara that he will be getting worse than a punch next time he hurts Laura. It was also a warning to Laura because I don't want her to get heartbroken.

When we reach the front…reception area…the same man from yesterday dives under the desk. I slightly frown at his actions. Konan and Deidara have done nothing, so why is the man acting so scared…never mind it's the Akatsuki we're talking about.

"Bye," Laura says waving to the desk man.

"Have a good day," the man says bowing from under his desk.

Shaking my head I walk over to the man. He flinches but doesn't move. Letting out a sigh, I grab his arms and pull him up a bit. He tries pulling away but I don't allow him.

"Stop shaking," I say with slight annoyance. "I promise you're not going to get hurt."

"But…the Akatsuki," he says with fearful eyes.

"Kahlan what are you doing," Laura asks sounding confused.

"Nothing," I reply with a smile then look back at the man keeping my smile in place. "Have a nice day and stop being so scared."

Even though the man is obviously older than me, I pat him on his head then walk away. Placing my hands in my pocket I smile at the three people in front of me as we walk out into the empty streets.

"Are we going to fly back, yeah?"

"No," Laura and I say at the same time.

"Why not; it will be quicker, yeah."

"I don't like any transportation except walking," Laura says with a small whine.

"My feet belong on the ground," I reply, still refusing to let others know about my fear of heights.

"We can walk," Konan says. "Deidara if you want to fly then you can."

"No," Laura says as she immediately wraps her arms around Deidara and looks up at him with puppy eyes.

Sighing Deidara replies, "Okay we can walk, yeah."

Laura grins and goes back to holding Deidara's hand. With Konan in the lead we start walking. Laura starts talking to Deidara about…something…I don't know since I'm not listening in on their conversation. My eyes roam around, taking in all the sights to remember this place.

We walk out of the village and I look up towards the gate. I can't read it but I assume it does say the name of the village. With a small smile, I look back ahead following Konan. We walk on the dirt road, and I look at how beautiful and tall the trees are. I bet our forest would look like this if people didn't cut down so much.

Since Laura is busy talking with Deidara, I can't talk to her. I would talk to Konan but I don't know what to say. After not seeing her for three months one would think I would be able to talk to her or anyone else, but really I don't know what to say.

"How far away is the base," I ask after about…a long time.

"It's three days away," Konan replies. "If we run we can make it there in about a day and a half or two days."

I nod in reply. Though I would like to get to the base soon, I don't want to ruin Laura's time with Deidara. She missed him a lot. I could tell when we were traveling with each other for a month. I should have never left her alone the last two months…but I was being selfish. So I'll keep my mouth shut and let her talk and enjoy her time with him. But I swear if he does anything to hurt her…again, he's a dead man.

As we start getting farther away from the village, the temperature started dropping. Shivering, I zip my coat up and wrap my arms around myself. Being a Floridian, I tend to be able to take the heat a lot better than the cold and well…I don't like the cold. Anything below seventy and I need to be inside. If the temperature drops below fifty you can count on the fact that I will not be leaving my bed, and if I do it is with very thick blankets with hot chocolate.

The longer we walk, the closer I move to Konan to stay warm. It's been a while and Deidara is now carrying Laura piggyback. She seems to be getting sleepy, but is trying to stay up. Konan holds out her hand and we all stop.

"We'll rest here for a few minutes," she says.

"Okay," I reply rubbing my arms.

"Great we can have food, yeah."

At the mention of food my stomach lets out a loud growl. Quickly, I place my hands over my stomach and look down feeling my face heat up realizing I haven't ate anything since breakfast yesterday. I hear Deidara laughing and I glare at him.

"Here," Konan says handing me rice…shaped into a ball.

"Thank you," I say with a smile.

"Deidara…you can share your food with Laura."

"That's not a problem, yeah," he replies as he puts Laura down.

He reaches into his cloak and pulls out a…lunch box…or something like that and then a canteen. Opening the box he holds it out for Laura and she grins grabbing some food and starts eating. I look down at my…rice ball (That's what I'm going to call it) and take a bite. I grin tasting just a hint of salt and almost inhale the food, mostly because I'm hungry.

We spend the next few minutes eating and drinking then start walking again. Laura was once again being carried by Deidara and I stayed near Konan as the temperature kept dropping. Okay, if it's been six months in this world that would mean it's February…if they go by the same months as we do. And if it's February that means it is winter. Argh, I hate winter.

At night we make camp away from the road and in the forest. I used my fireball jutsu to get a small fire going to stay warm. I tried to get some sleep, but really I've practically became an insomniac and well…it's too cold for me to sleep outside.

After three long cold days of traveling, we finally reach what I assume is the base. It's a large-ish building that looks like it is built into the side of a mountain. In fact I almost mistaken the building as the mountain because I almost can't tell the two apart. The building is just a very light shade off from the mountain, something that can easily be over looked.

Konan and Deidara do some hand signs and a rock-ish door slides open. We walk inside out of the cold. The door closes back up and we walk down a candlelit hallway. My teeth are clattering as I pull into myself for warmth. The sad thing is…I'm the only one with the clattering teeth. I'm a Floridian I was not meant for cold weather.

"We're back," Konan says as we walk into a large room that is warm.

The room…doesn't look like it's made from rocks; in fact it looks like a room you see in a house. There are nice deep red colored walls, with the same colored carpet. There are a few dark brown tables and black couches and recliners around the room. Inside the room sitting in one of the recliners is Kakuzu and on the couch is Sasori.

Kakuzu grunts in reply not looking up from the suitcase in his lap. Sasori nods his head as he is working on some wood with some carving type tools. I smile softly at the scene remembering how they did this back in our world.

"We brought some guest, yeah."

"Sasori," Laura yells, getting off Deidara. With tears in her eyes she runs over to the redhead and hugs him. Sasori looks up at Laura, then his eyes move to Konan, Deidara then land on me. With a small smile I join Laura in hugging Sasori.

"I've missed you," Laura says as she pulls away.

"Same here," I say very softly.

"I see," Sasori replies as he pulls away from the two of us.

Laura pouts but then smiles when he gives her a one armed hug. I then get a one armed hug after he pulls away from her. Laura then turns to Kakuzu and gives him a hug. Well she tries to since he holds out his arm to keep her away.

"Kakuzu," Laura whines as more tears fall from her eyes.

"You're going to have to pay for this hug," Kakuzu says a moment later and then lets Laura hug him as he gives a hug back. After about three seconds pass he stops hugging her, then looks over at me.

"Hey," I say with a small nod as my way of greeting him. Though…as fucked up as it is, I missed Kakuzu as well even though I still don't forgive him for what he did to Timothy.

"Where's everyone else," Laura asks looking around the room frowning. More tears starting to form in her eyes. I bite my bottom lip wondering the same thing.

"They should all be back by tomorrow," Sasori replies.

Pouting, Laura goes over to Deidara. He wipes away her tears and places his arm around her shoulder while grinning at her. Sasori shakes his head at Deidara then looks back down at…I guess his project.

"Konan," I say as I rub my arms to try and warm them up faster, it's not my fault that I'm still cold. "Where will Laura and I be sleeping?"

"Until some arrangements can be made the two of you can stay with me," she replies with a small smile.

"I can't stay with Deidara," Laura asks with a small pout.

"No," Konan says shaking her head slightly.

Laura pouts and I sigh a little and turn back to Konan. "Can you show us where your room is?"

She gives a small smile and nods in reply. I follow her down another hallway, lit similar to the one we came through. Laura and Deidara follow behind us, and I know this because I checked over my shoulder. We make a few lefts and rights here and there then find ourselves in front of a normal door that Konan opens.

"There's a bathroom right there," she says pointing to a door opposite of the bed. "There are others down the hallway with white doors. And that's the closet. She points to another door that is opposite the one we're standing in. "Deidara you are to stay out of my room or face the consequences."

"I'll stay out, yeah."

"Can I take a nap," Laura asks with puppy eyes.

"Hai," Konan replies with a small smile.

"I'll join you," I reply yawning. Insomniac or not, the cold is making me sleepy.

"I'll come wake you both up for dinner," Konan says.

"Thank you," I reply.

"Okay," Laura says as she gives Konan a hug.

She then hugs Deidara and I walk into the room. Inside the room I go through the process of getting Rellik. I take off my shoes and climb into the bed. I let out a sigh as I bury myself deep under the covers holding Rellik close. I close my eyes and a few moments later I feel Laura getting into the bed.

"Sweet dreams," I say to her with a yawn.

"You too," she replies.

I smile as I fall to sleep. Maybe when we wake up the others will be back. I just need to see with my own eyes that they're all alive and okay.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	8. Chapter 8: More People

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_**Note: A big family reunion is normally happy… and sad.**_

~Laura's POV

I kick a little in Konan's bed as I flip onto my other side and stare at the wall… I cannot sleep… which is very weird for me. I whine to myself while slowly turning over so I don't make any noise and notice Kahlan is fast asleep.

I pout to myself while ever so slowly rolling out of bed and land on the floor with a thump.

"Uh oh," I murmur softly while ever slowly looking back onto the bed to see Kahlan still sleeping like I didn't even fall out of bed. With a happy sigh, I slowly stand up to my feet, grab one of the big fluffy blue blankets from the bed and ever so carefully walk out of the room, slowly closing it as I do so.

I snuggle into the blanket while hugging it to myself while following the route back to the living room, it takes me about ten minutes to find it since I am horrible with directions but I do find it in the end.

"Morning…" I murmur while walking into the living room, snuggling my blanket while only looking to the ground, I want a nap but I cannot sleep in Konan's bed, it's annoying feeling sleepy but can't sleep.

"It's the evening so it's 'good evening'," Sasori corrects as I lazily stick my tongue out at nothing before plopping down on one of the black sofas and simply fall onto my side, snuggling the blanket. I feel myself being eyed by both Kakuzu and Sasori for some reason so I only yawn and snuggle into the blanket more.

"I couldn't sleep in Konan's bed," I murmur into the blanket as I pull myself into a ball to stay warm, it doesn't seem like they have heating in this place… that or it isn't turned on.

I hear a grunt in reply to what I have said before I slowly open my eyes to see only Sasori and Kakuzu still in the living room… where's Deidara and Konan?

"Konan is cooking dinner and the brat is somewhere," Sasori says as if reading my mind which results in me rolling off of the sofa and onto the floor, the blanket spread out on me…how the hell did Sasori know what I was thinking!? "Your expression said enough," he says as right now I am giving him a 'what-the-heck-puppy?' look as he stares at me after looking away from his… puppet pieces. He soon turns back to his puppet stuff as I slowly crawl back onto the sofa, wrapping myself up again in the blanket.

I stick my tongue out at him one last time before curling up into my blanket while lying on my side; I am quite comfortable right now… but… I can't… sleep.

I whine VERY loudly while sitting up on the sofa before rubbing my eyes, I really wanna sleep but I can't sleep… this is just messed up you know.

"What are you doing, yeah," I hear a very familiar voice which makes me jump and again… results in me falling off of the sofa again and onto the floor… again. Slowly, I look up from my spot on the floor to see Deidara leaning over the sofa with his chin on his palm, grinning.

"I am trying to sleep," I say softly while sitting up from the floor and crawling back onto the sofa to crawl into another ball of warm fluffiness. I feel him staring for a few short moments before I feel him plop on the sofa seat beside me… I wonder how he sat down without going round to the front of it… weird.

"Come here, un," he mutters while pulling me closely and onto his very nice lap which is very easy to sleep in. I whine a tiny bit while turning to face him, snuggling into him while also snuggling Konan's very soft and warm blanket.

"Brat, she needs to sleep in a bed, not your lap," I hear Sasori says which makes me whine into the blanket and move closer to Deidara's warm-ness… yes I shall use that made up word.

"She isn't doing anything wrong, Danna, hmm,"

"She's not sleeping beside you each night Konan said and leader when he's back,"

"At night she can sleep in her own bed, yeah. For now she'll sleep with me, yeah," I hear the two argue as I ignore them both, trying to sleep which is very-very easy to do when you are warm and comfy.

I murmur a small goodnight to Dei as I close my eyes completely after half watching the two argue and let the dream world take me over completely.

Things seem to be fine in my world as sweet, harmless dreams seem to have taken over again instead of the bad dream. I mostly dream of Neko Yuki and how many happy people are there. I also dream of Deidara, Itachi and Kahlan working at Neko Yuki as well. Kahlan is playing in her band on a little custom made stage for her band while Deidara, Sasuke and Itachi are waiters, it's quite fun to see Deidara get super competitive when it comes to the amount of customers since in my dream I put up a 'customer service rank' so customers would vote who was their favourite waiter so it's like a popularity ranking for each week for the waiters and waitresses… I'll need to write that idea down later.

I slowly wake up with a small jolt as I cling onto the softest and warmest thing nearest to me… its really fluffy and warm.

"Laura… Laura dinner is ready," I hear a familiar voice whisper softly in my ear while shaking my shoulders softly. I clench my eyes for a second before bringing my hands up to rub them, removing the sleep from my eyes before opening them and glancing round the room. I soon see Konan leaning over me with her kind smile as I blink my eyes before smiling back a little, that was a super nice nap and I want another like that later.

"Morning," I murmur into this very fluffy blue blanket before snuggling into it, so warm.

I slowly stretch myself under from under my blanket till sighing in peace as my joints click softly, making a little face into the blanket as I sigh. I rub my eyes a little more before looking round the living room, only Sasori is in the living room and his wooden bits look like a huge mess… it looks like something threw them across the room but Sasori looks very calm… did he do that?

I freeze softly as I feel a familiar feeling in my ear and slowly turn my head to the side to see Deidara asleep on my shoulder, breathing softly into my ear as he sleeps; every once in a while he would make a little snoring sound.

"Dei doesn't snore much," I say while laughing a little, turning round a little to see him better.

"No, he snores pretty loudly when he's lying down," Konan says as I think back to the hot spring, Deidara was awake before me so I don't know, he was coming out of the shower, dressed when I woke up. So yeah… I don't think I've heard Dei snoring really loudly yet… he is a guy after all and most guys snore.

"Dei~da~ra~ time to wake up~" I sing with a tune as he grumbles something I cannot make out before rubbing his nose into my neck more, ticking a little. I cover my mouth to cover my giggle as he groans a tiny bit while opening one of his eyes… the visible one.

"Its… morning… yeah," he questions while sitting up better and rubbing his right eye with his hand before looking to Konan, then to me and then to Konan again. "dinner… hmm?" he asks with a sleepy tone before raising his hand to his mouth to cover a huge yawn.

I smile while watching with a tiny blush, I look down for a moment getting an idea and blushing even more at the time.

"Good morning," I say while pecking Dei's cheek, I quickly look down to the blanket as I start blushing even more, my cheeks burn! Not epic at all!

"Morning, un," he says back as I feel him peck my neck, causing a chill to run up my spine, making me jump out of his lap and almost into Konan. That was weird as heck!

"W-Whose going to wake up Kahlan?" I ask while trying my best to keep my shuddering at a minimum which isn't going very well.

Konan seems to glare at Deidara for a moment as I try my best not to look back to him; my blushes are no doubt redder then a cherry.

"We're back," I hear a very familiar voice call from the entry as something clicks in my head… I know that voice… I really do.

I feel tears appear in my eyes as I slowly look to the entry to see Itachi… Sasuke… and sensei… walking through the door while Itachi looks completely fine and sensei looks like he was pulled through a bush backwards. Itachi's eyes almost immediately land on me before looking to everyone else in the room before landing back on me, his expression not once changing.

"…My student," I hear Kisame-sensei says with a pause before grinning to me, walking over as I stay frozen in my spot, watching him walk over with his grin, "you've grown a little," he says while patting my head as I watch, tears slowly dripping from my eyes down my cheeks.

"Sensei!" I yell while hugging him, crying as I feel him tap my back soft before I slowly pull away, he's still grinning but it's a sad grin though. I pull back more before rubbing my eyes, "I-I missed you," I say while crying, rubbing my eyes as tears fall but I slowly pull my hands away to look Kisame-sensei right in the eyes, "I-I p-promise to k-keep my promise," I say while smiling a little, he blinks for a moment before grinning more and ruffling my hair. I whine a little while pushing his hand away and backing away from him.

"So where's Kahlan then if you're here," Kisame questions as I quickly grab the chance to hug the smaller Uchiha who just stands there, letting me hug him.

"I missed you lots too Sasuke," I say as another tear runs down my cheeks, he watches me for a moment before hn-ing me, resulting in me whining with puppy eyes which soon gets me a hug from him… gotta love the puppy eyes.

"Your turn Itachi!" I sing while glomping Itachi who does the same as Sasuke by just standing there till I give him puppy eyes and a whine which results in me getting a hug… see… puppy eyes rock and are epic.

"Kahlan is in my room, sleeping," Konan finally says after I have hugged every Uchiha and shark man in the room. I grin to the three before rubbing the rest of the tears out of my eyes as I just notice something about Sasuke… he's wearing a Akatsuki cloak?

"You're an Akatsuki member?" I ask Sasuke while eyeing his cloak.

"Hn," is all I get along with a nod from Sasuke as he looks from Itachi then to me, I soon look to Itachi and notice… he looks much better… like… a tiny bit less paler… and healthier if I must say. No idea why I think healthier but he does look healthier for some reason.

"Hey Itachi can wake Kahlan up~" I sing while grabbing onto the older Uchiha's hand before dragging him to the hallway and pushing him into the halls. "Go wake Kahlan up! She'll be super happy to see you," I sing with a happy tune before calmly walking back over to Deidara and hugging him, grinning at the fact that there are more members in the base now~! Yay!

"Aren't you happy, yeah," Deidara says with a weird smirk which I cannot describe but I nod while grinning to him, grabbing his hand gently as he squeezes mine softly which I return, I feel… lov- lov… you guys know! Looo…v…v…e… OKAY YOU GUYS KNOW! AHH you guys are making me blush… not fair… not fair or epic at all.

"I am happy," I say while walking into the dining room which is connected to the kitchen by an archway, I take a random seat at the table and Deidara takes the one to my left, causing me to blush a little and smile.

I look across the table and see all of the Japanese food which I do not know the name of, a lot of it looks very familiar though I cannot put my finger on the name… I know some pieces of food like over there are Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, and Okinawa Soba… and last but not least that I know off… Kishimen. All in all, I have never tried any of these and I have been dying too. I really hope Itachi wakes Kahlan up soon so we can try these… do we have to say 'Itadakimasu' meaning 'thank you for the food'?

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	9. Chapter 9: Staying Up

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

_**Note: Sitting in a dark room can cause people to attack you; it's best to leave some sort of light so you don't have a weapon thrown at you.**_

~Kahlan's POV

In the far distance I hear my name being called, but I ignore it for the wonderful world of sleep. I'm warm and comfortable finally able to catch up on some Zs. No way do I want to leave.

"Kahlan," the voice whispers right in my ear.

I shiver not from the cold but some unknown reason. My heart starts pounding like crazy and my stomach start doing gymnastic tricks. Groaning I bury my face into Rellik feeling sleep drift away from me.

"Kahlan," the very familiar voice says. "Dinner is done."

Keeping the covers around me I sit up and rub my eyes. Stretching, I yawn letting my joints pop. I look over to see who has awakened me from my wonderful slumber. My eyes widen as all breathing stops, my heart rate accelerates and my insides decide it's time for more gymnastic tricks. Standing in front of the bed is Itachi.

Unshed tears burn my eyes as I feel my bottom lip to start trembling. I feel happy to see him and…I don't know I refuse to name whatever else I feel. In fact I am shooting the other unknown feeling and throwing it into the ocean.

"Itachi," I ask my voice thick. My hands shake wanting to reach out and touch him but I'm too afraid of these weird feeling and that he just might be an illusion.

He nods in reply and I feel a tear fall down, then another and the floodgates start opening. For a moment I throw caution (and pride) to the wind and jump off the bed wrapping my arms around him. Seeing as I don't go through him it means he's real and I tighten my hold around him. I bury my face in his chest sobbing.

"I…." I try to speak but words get stuck in my throat.

What could I even possibly say? I could say that when I saw him die I was crushed, but that's not something I'm ready to admit out loud. I could tell him…nothing because I refuse to accept any of the unknown feelings that scare me just a bit. If no words come out, and I refuse to say anything then there's nothing that can be spoken.

I clench tightly onto his cloak because even though I refuse to say anything, I don't want to let him go. If I do he could leave…disappear, and I don't want that. I don't want…to lose him…I don't.

"Don't –hiccup-…leave…." That is all I am able to force out of my throat. I cling tighter, sobbing into his chest. I feel his arms around me as his hands rub my back in a soothing manner.

It takes a while for me to calm down. I keep sniffling with shaky breathing as slow silent tears stroll down my cheeks. My eyes close feeling sleep as I listen to the steady beat of his heart. I allow the feeling of bliss until it decides that it wants to bring over its buddy that I shot. Once something has been thrown in the ocean it should learn to stay there, I don't want to deal with the unknown or put a name to any of the emotions. So, I pull away and wipe away the remaining tears.

"Sorry," I mumble looking down to the ground.

He places his hand on my shoulder and I look up at him. He doesn't say anything and…I guess I don't need him to since…well he did allow me to cry all over him so really there is no reason to apologize. Argh, my pride is really starting to crumble around this man and I can't allow it to happen.

My stomach lets out a loud grumble and I look away glaring at the floor. There's a small chuckle and it didn't come from me so I know it came from him. Grabbing one of the blankets off Konan's bed, I throw it at Itachi. He catches it raising his brow.

"Give it back," I say reaching for it but he holds it away.

"You threw it," he says which I translate into a no.

"You chuckled at me," I reply with a slight glare. My stomach decides to grumble again (very loudly) causing my face to heat up and I see the corner of his lips twitch. "Fine you can keep it."

I head for the door to go eat…dinner because I remember the words 'diner is done' being spoken. I stop when I feel the blanket being placed on my shoulder. Looking up I see Itachi give a very small (almost unnoticeable) smile then starts walking ahead.

Wrapping the blanket tight around me I look down feeling my face heat up even more. Seeing him smile…even if it was a small smile…makes me want to smile. That is not cool, at all. But it wouldn't be wrong to smile if I'm happy to see him…right; because I am happy to see him, happier than when I saw Konan, and definitely happier than seeing the others.

So I allow myself to smile, after all there can't be anything wrong with that. I look up at him and my eyes stray down to his hand. For a moment I wonder what it would be like if I was to hold his hand. Shaking my head, I rid the thought. Something like that wouldn't happen…plus I don't think I should dive any deeper into these strange feelings and stuff.

"Good evening," I say as I walk into the kitchen/dining room with Itachi.

"What took so long," asks Kisame from the table.

"I was enjoying my sleep," I reply. "Yay food, I'm starving." I go to take a seat but stop. I look to Kisame then Sasuke and smile. Going over to Kisame I place one arm over his shoulder. "I have some news for you," I say in a sing-song voice looking over to Deidara.

Deidara notices me looking and slightly glares. "What are you doing, yeah?"

"I could possibly be planning to kick a wall," I reply then turn back to Kisame with a grin. "You would not believe the things that have happen."

"What things," Kisame asks sounding intrigued.

"Oh…nothing really," I reply moving away from Kisame and going over to Sasuke. "I just think…you might want to keep a close eye…on a certain blonde, and I don't mean me."

Kisame looks a bit confused and looks over to Deidara. In return Deidara holds his hands up in the air with an innocent look. Kisame then turns back to me still looking confused and I smile.

"What the hell did I do, yeah?"

"Do you really want me to answer that," I reply with a serious tone. I then turn to Sasuke and ruffle his hair. "Hey."

"Stop that," Sasuke say pushing my hand away and glares.

Poking his cheek I reply, "I told you to smile more."

Sasuke glares even more. Kisame starts laughing and Laura is chuckling. With a grin I ruffle Sasuke's hair one last time then dash over to Itachi, taking a seat beside him as if I did nothing wrong. I am really happy.

"The food looks delicious," I say with a smile.

"Thank you," Konan replies.

"You're welcome."

"Now we can eat," Kisame says with a grin.

I watch as each one bows their head and says…something I don't know. Ah, I remember them doing something similar back in our world. Laura seems to know what it is they're doing and saying because she copies them. Not wanting to feel like an idiot, I slightly bow my head the same time everyone else is lifting their head and starts eating.

"Kahlan," Laura says and I look up at her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I reply as I lift up the chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu," Itachi whispers. I look at him confused. "It means thank you for the food."

"Okay," I nod in reply. "That's what everyone was doing?" He nods and I try to say the word and it just comes out all wrong. "You're going to have to teach me your language," I say after my third try of saying the word.

"We can start tomorrow," he replies.

I smile and start eating the food. Thankfully there is salt on the table. So, I reach over and sprinkle some on my food then place it back. Satisfied I go about eating, watching Laura happily talk to Deidara and Kisame.

"What have you been up to," Kisame asks about halfway through dinner.

"Hmm," I say tilting my head since I have food in my mouth.

"Since we've been gone what were you up to," Kisame asks as he points to me.

Swallowing my food I reply, "Traveling."

"That's it, yeah."

"And other stuff," I reply with a shrug. "Don't worry about it."

"Did you make any money," Kakuzu asks.

"Maybe," I reply as I finish the rest of my food. "I can do the dishes."

"I'll help," Laura says with a grin.

"You don't have to," Konan says.

"I want to," Laura and I say in union. I chuckle and Laura grins.

"Okay," Konan says with a small smile.

"Thank you for dinner," I say standing up. Grabbing the dishes I used, I go and place them in the sink. I get the sink filled with water so it's ready for the other dishes. I only wait for about ten minutes for everyone to finish. Soon, Laura and I are both doing the dishes. Since there aren't that much to wash we finish quickly.

Laura yawns as I wipe my hands dry with the dish towel. "Get some sleep," I say going over to the blanket I took from Konan's room and wrap it around myself. There needs to be some heat in this place.

"I'm not that tired," Laura replies.

"Don't stay up too late," I reply as I give her a hug.

"I won't," she replies hugging back then walks out of the room.

"My student," I hear Kisame say and I chuckle.

Wrapping the blanket closer, I walk out and head back for Konan's room. Once there, I grab Rellik and get into bed. As much as I would like to hang out with everyone, I'm tired. So I want to catch up on as much sleep as I can before my body decided it doesn't want me sleeping anymore.

So I lay in Konan's bed…for a long time drifting in and out of being half awake and half asleep. I hear Konan and Laura come to bed, but that's when I'm half asleep so I'm unable to say anything or reply when they said anything. Soon after that the two of them are asleep.

About an hour of them being asleep I come out of my whole half awake and half asleep state. I stare up at the ceiling knowing there is no way I can be able to go to sleep. It was a little too good to be true.

Sighing, I roll out of bed silently. Holding onto Rellik, I quietly make my way out of the room. Keeping close to the wall, I make my way through the dark hallways to the living room. It's dark and so that must mean no one is in the room.

Quietly, I walk over to the outline of what I assume is the sofa and plop down on it. There's no TV to watch and pass the time, so I just stare off into space holding Rellik while my thoughts roam around my head.

For a moment I wonder why the storm brought us here, but then smile slightly because I am happy to be here. Then I frown, thinking about our world. Eventually it will be known that the two of us are missing. Laura has a café to run and…I have a band to get together. Plus my father and I are always talking with each other over the phone every two days. He'll know something is up soon when I don't pick up the phone. Depending on how long we're here also depends on the fact our electric and phone going out for not being paid.

Squeezing Rellik, I frown even more. Is there a way back home? Hopefully, there is no need to die to get back. Will Laura want to go back because I know she's happy being here? Would I want to go back? I want to work on my music, and I don't know if I can do it here. Plus, music is practically my life but…I can't lose Itachi again. Sure I know he's alive but…to never see or talk to him again, or the rest of the family and our friends…I wouldn't know what to pick. Stay here or go back to our world?

I'm so lost in my thoughts I almost don't hear someone walking into the room. Looking up I see the person freeze standing in the entrance way. Immediately I duck as a kunai flies by where my head was.

Quickly, I jump over the couch to hide behind it. It's not like I can attack with Rellik, he wouldn't do much damage. Okay then…I shall scream, and that is exactly what I do.

Lights come on in the room and I sink low to the floor. My eyes scan for a place to hide but land to the hallway leading to the bedrooms. I go to run for it but stop when I see an Akatsuki cloak in front of me. I look up and see Leader looking down at me. Oops, I hope no one comes and that I didn't wake anybody up.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	10. Chapter 10: No Secrets

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

_**Note: Always make sure no one is around when you want to keep a secret, never let Hidan know, he'll tell everyone.**_

~Laura's POV

"Kyaaa!" I scream while once again falling out of bed, this is why I do not like beds… okay one of the very tiny reasons, they enjoy kicking me out of bed. I wonder why beds don't like me as much as I love them… what did I ever do to them? I ask you that… WHAT?!

I hear someone leave the bed as well and the bedside lamp is turned on, I soon see its Konan as I sit up from the floor and see that Kahlan is not in bed… uh oh.

"Laura, stay here," Konan calls to me while grabbing her kunai holder and sprinting out of the room with it, I bite the side of my cheek as I quickly rush out of the bedroom and look towards the way where the scream came from… oh great… what happened… please be nothing big.

"What are you doing here, Konan, explain," I hear a very familiar but distance voice say as I closely walk towards the living room where the light candle thingies are turned on, giving me a clear view of the living room.

In front of me is… Pein… he's here… oh my god Pein is here!

"LEADER!" I yell loudly while glomping the orange haired man by surprise as I feel him jump slightly for a second before looking down at me, a clearly not happy look on his face, "Hi~" I sing while waving with one hand, still hugging him as I wave.

"Well, these two were transported here in a thunder storm, they have both confirmed there was… purple lightning… Deidara and I found them in the hot spring village," Konan says while nodding her head as I nod happy at finally getting a one armed hug from Pein before letting him go, he is not a person to push his buttons with.

"What the hell is going on –yawns–, yeah," I hear my favourite blonde say, Kahlan is a favourite female blonde and Deidara is my favourite male blonde though truthfully Kahlan probably would win, she's awesome and Deidara is epic making them together EPIC AWESOME!

I also see Itachi and Sasori walk into the living room with bored expressions while Itachi looks a little more tired than bored.

"Kahlan screamed when Leader-sama threw a kunai at her," Konan says with a stern look to both Kahlan and Pein which causes Kahlan to look to the floor slightly while Pein sighs a little, moving his shoulder as I notice that Konan, Deidara, Itachi and Pein are in their PJs, Pein is just wearing black PJ trousers, Deidara is just wearing light blue PJ trousers, Itachi black trousers with a upper body type black shirt with fish netting on the arms while Konan is wearing purple PJ shorts and a white tank top… not bad fashion guys and this is coming from a girl that designs her own kimonos.

"We'll talk about this more tomorrow," Pein says while giving a tired look before looking to Konan, "their permanent room will be given tomorrow but since we have no more spare rooms, you two will be sharing rooms with another Akatsuki member," Pein says while giving this tiny sly type of smirk which I don't really catch but Deidara and Konan seem to as Konan give a tired look and sighs while Deidara seems to smirk to us two before yawning, stretching his arms out before looking to us all.

"Night, yeah," he says before grasping my hand and leading me a little further down the hallway to a dark blue door, "I'm here so if you need me, and I'm not in the living room, I'm here, un," he says while taping the door while grinning to me, I nod my head softly as I take it as this is his room probably. "Alright, night, yeah," he says while leaning down a giving me a short ki…ki… kisu… on the cheek… before grinning to me as I start blushing more.

"O-Okay… night… sweet dreams," I say while looking away from him, if I see him again I will no doubt blush more then I should.

"You too, hmm," he says while grinning to me while expecting something back… am I missing something? Hmm… oh right! Duhh I am a baka at times. I quickly lean up as much as I can and carefully kiss his cheek back; my cheeks are burning so much right now… I didn't know my cheeks could feel this warm in the winter.

Deidara grins to me one last time before opening his door, I quickly smile a little bit before stifling turning and heading back to Konan's room, I am going to sleep very easy tonight I just know it.

I soon see the pillow I used this afternoon on the bed all folded up, with a grin, I skip over to the bed and wrap myself up in it before getting into bed. This blanket seems to let me sleep so easily and the results of it are myself drifting off, I slowly close my eyes and drift off into my dream land.

I dream mostly of what I dreamed last time but with more of a twist. Naruto is always working at the café with Sasuke who has made the customer service ranking a new competition for the two of them as they try to befriend the customers as much as possible though Sasuke's rudeness is doing better than Naruto's niceness.

I also look to Kahlan's band and see that Itachi is using his break to do a duet with Kahlan, right now they are singing 'How to Save a Life – the fray' which is really insane to hear from the both of them since they are both great singers.

I rub my eyes slowly as the fragments of my dreams leave my head and now… I cannot remember my dream… Nuuu I know it was great since I feel so happy now! So mean the world is; I would whack the world with an apple if I could.

I stretch my arms out to the ceiling while clenching my eyes before letting my arms drop and I open my eyes at the light blue ceilings… that's a nice colour.

I look round the room slowly and see a note and a set of clothing. I jump off of the bed softly and notice that Kahlan and Konan are not here, I shrug my shoulders softly while picking up the note and reading Kahlan's note.

_good morning or afternoon Laura, hope you slept well, Konan and I made a quick stop to a nearby town to get you some nice kimonos while there was a great sale going on, even if the women knew Konan was an Akatsuki member I am sure they wouldn't move to the side, that's how busy the sale was. Well the kimono on the bed is for you and a few more kimonos, I think twenty, that is how great the sale was… well they are in a bag beside the bed, the one on the bed is the one Deidara picked out and don't worry, I approve of it, see you when you're awake, Love Kahlan and Konan._

I nod my head slowly at the very long note before picking up the kimono and smile as I notice there is a change of matching underwear and bra in the kimono, which is great since I really need a nice long shower and clean clothes.

I stretch out again till I hear the pops of my joints and head straight for the bathroom; I quickly strip down and turn the shower on, waiting for the water to heat up before stepping in. I quickly wash myself cover and rinse and repeat with my hair, leaving it super soft and fluffy when I dry it. All this takes about half an hour and I stand in the hot-warm water for about ten minutes before stepping out and drying myself off; that was an amazing shower.

I quickly change into the white with black laced matching undergarments before putting the kimono on – on top of it, truthfully it feels pretty weird not to have any shorts under my kimonos but I guess this is how all Japanese girls have their kimonos… so I shouldn't complain. The kimono is insanely cute as it is a white kimono with flower pattern on it which is a sky blue on it. It also has some circles near the flowers so all together I think it's an insanely cute kimono. The kimono ends about mid-thigh while the sleeves end a little pass my elbow, the obi is a yellow colour with blue and white in the bow… but I notice that Kahlan has lent me some ripped white knee length socks so it should be warmer.

I quickly pull on the socks then wrapping the kimono on which makes me blush a little, soo~ this is the kimono Dei picked out for me… hehe… umm… I'm not sure what to say right now~

I quickly towel dry my hair for a couple of seconds before brushing my hands through it while looking into Konan's mirror, that looks fine, my hair is naturally straight anyway which can be a pain at times.

With a nod, I walk out of Konan's bedroom and bathroom before heading to the living room where only a few people are, Konan, Kahlan, Kisame, Itachi, Kakuzu and Deidara by that… where is everyone.

"Everyone has disappeared," I sing while plopping down beside Deidara and Konan who both seemed to be thinking at the moment in time.

"No, Leader-sama sent them out on missions; Sasori's mission was to find Hidan who hasn't come back from his mission yet," Konan says as I nod my head a little before rubbing my eyes, I really need a glass of milk.

"McKay," I yawn while moving a little in my seat, still not used to the kimono which is probably an inch or two shorter than what I normally wear, well unless I'm hot then I probably wear at this length but I'm only rarely hot in the summer.

I look round the room to see Itachi with a small black book talking to Kahlan while there are bits of paper with strange writing on them scattered all over the coffee table, he seems to be saying things in Japanese to her while she is trying to repeat it back to him… she seems to be doing quite well since I under some bits of it.

Kakuzu seems to have a suitcase full of money and is counting it while Konan is now making little paper items, Kisame seems to be napping in a recliner and Deidara… well Dei looks pretty bored.

"I'm going to get a drink," I say while hoping off of the sofa and heading for the kitchen, I see the fridge and open it to see lots of different things but I recognize some bottles to be sake by the smell of it so I carefully take some of the milk and pour myself a glass.

"Tired, hmm?" I hear Dei ask from the arch opening as I nod my head and slowly drink the milk, cold milk wakes you up while warm milks makes you sleepy, simple logic my dear friend.

"Un~" I mimic before sticking my tongue at him which causes him to chuckle softly while walking over to me as I put the glass in the sink and wash it up slowly, there is absolutely nothing else to do this morning anyway.

I soon see Dei's hands on either side of me as I wash the cups and bits probably left from breakfast in the sink… strangely enough I'm not that hungry anymore.

"Deidara can I ask you something?" I ask while glancing back to him slowly, he seems to lean his chin on my shoulder as he… nyan…a… well… aha… umm… h…hugs me… from behind…

I shake my head a little as he answers, "yeah?" he says while I feel his hands watching me wash the bits in the sink… I feel somewhat like a… Japanese… housew… never mind never mind forget I said anything!

"H-How old are you… right now?" I ask as I lean forwards a little to move a little away causing him to lean forwards as well.

"Nineteen," he answers in my ear causing me to shiver but I am not at all cold… well… that is very-very strange. So, I am eighteen and Dei here is nineteen… I have no idea what the difference is but okay?

"We're back," I hear Sasori call as lean back a little from slouching a little, ahh my back hurts a little now.

I move a little as I take my hands out of the soapy water to… u…u…umm… aha… k…k…k…kkkkk….kisu… D-D-Dei…o-o…on… t-t-t…the… l-lips.

I feel my body freeze as that thought processes in my mind as I feel heat rise to my cheeks… I-I a-am k-k-k-kissing D-D-D-Deid-d-d-dara.

I slowly let my body take control as I close my eyes lean in a little, feeling him do the same. I place my hands against the sink as I hear someone so familiar yell.

"Oh my fucking Jashin! EVERYONE! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OVER FUCKING HERE YOU BITCHES!" and like that, I pull away as I feel a little light headed and my cheeks feel like heaters… oh no… Hidan… damn why did it have to be Hidan…

Deidara seems to look away from me and narrow his eyes at the door; "I'm going to kill him, yeah," Deidara says ever so scary calm before running out of the kitchen in his normal clothes without cloak… oh great… Hidan is not one for hold secrets.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	11. Chapter 11: Daydream

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 11**

_**Note: When bored go to Daydream Land, and if you don't like it there better find yourself something to do.**_

~Kahlan's POV

I watch Deidara chase after a laughing Hidan. Standing up I walk over to the kitchen. Laura is standing in front of the sink. Her face is a dark red as she looks down at the floor. I look down at the floor, see nothing and turn to face where Hidan and Deidara disappeared.

"Laura," I say looking back to her. "What is going on?"

"N-nothing," she replies as her voice goes an octave higher than normal and she covers her face.

"Did I miss something," Kisame asks from the recliner.

"I don't know," I reply shrugging my shoulders. "Are you okay Laura?"

She nods keeping her face covered. Slightly frowning, I look back in the direction the two male Akatsuki members went. Something happen that Hidan wanted everyone to see. Whatever it is, Deidara didn't want Hidan letting anyone to know and so chased after him. If that is true then…what happen?

"Laura…you're an adult and can make your own choices but…please tell me what happen."

"You p-promise not t-t-to tell anyone," she asks looking up with puppy eyes.

"I promise," I reply walking into the room to make it more difficult for the others to hear the conversation.

"And you p-p-promise not to hurt Dei-Deid-dara?"

I bite on my lower lip wondering what he could have done to make Laura have me promise to not hurt him. "I promise," I reply after a minute of debating with myself.

"I...I k-k-k-k-ki…I…." Laura's face becomes even more red and she quickly covers her face as she turns around.

"You what," I asked getting closer.

"Ki…I k-k-kis…IkissedDeidara," she says super-fast. Closing my eyes I repeat what she said separating the words.

"Oh," I say opening my eyes. That explains everything.

I give her a quick hug then pull away. Once upon a time I would have told her to stop going down the road she's going down now. In fact I would have found some way to scare Deidara away. But that was back when I was still bitter from having my heart broken. Now, I've moved on and won't allow my one bad experience ruin her chance. I mean after all she could actually be lucky. That doesn't mean I won't annoy the hell out of Deidara because if Laura and him are going to be together then he will have to get used to the fact that I'm also going to be in Laura's life, we're best friends forever, and our necklaces say so.

"Well if he's the one you pick then you know you'll always have my support," I say placing my arm around her shoulder. "But be careful, and if he screws up then it's not my fault when he gets send to the hospital." Laura pouts making a whining sound in the back of her throat. Chuckling I continue, "Remember it's the little things that count, and if he does something you don't like you have every right to give him the silent treatment."

"Okay," she says sounding a bit confused.

"You'll understand in time," I say smiling ruffling her hair. She sticks her tongue out as she swats my hand away.

"Girls," Leader calls from the living room. I should be calling him Pein (At least mentally), but I'm so used to calling him Leader.

"Looks like we're being summoned," I say with a small smile. Laura chuckles and together we walk out into the living room.

Leader throws Hidan into one of the couches then throws Deidara on an opposite couch. With a glare he points to Hidan who is about to open his mouth and says, "Don't you dare say a word or your mouth will be sewn shut and you…." Leader turns and glares at Deidara. "Don't move or I'll break your legs and sew your mouths shut so you can't create any of your clay creatures."

Deidara leans into the couch crossing his arms. Hidan grumbles a lot of things under his breath as he glares at Leader. Satisfied Leader than turns to us, and I give him a small wave. He points around the room wanting us to take a seat. Laura goes and sits beside Deidara with Konan beside her. I go back to my seat next to Itachi that way we can continue my hard as hell lessons after this meeting.

"Explain how you two got into this world," Leader demands. Well, he sure hasn't change that much.

"Well," Laura says tapping her chin with a thoughtful look as she looks up to the ceiling.

She then starts explaining the thunderstorm. How time seemed to become frozen while purple lightning kept striking around the two of us. She then said she passed out sometime after it started to strike. I keep quiet about what happen when I passed out; it was just too weird for me to explain.

"Can the two of you still use your chakra," Leader asks after the explanation.

"I can," I reply. "And Laura is able to as well."

"Demonstrate," Leader commands.

Sighing I stand up and go through the process of creating a shadow clone. My clone gives a small bow and then poofs away as I get back in my seat. Grinning, Laura jumps to her feet and goes through the process creating her own clone.

"See, I can still use my chakra," she says happily and high-fives her clone.

"That's my student," Kisame says with a proud grin.

Laura grins and dismisses her clone. She sits back between Deidara and Konan. Hidan smirks as Deidara puts his arm around Laura's shoulder. Sasori shakes his head and Kisame slightly narrows his eyes at Deidara. Ah, the trouble Deidara can get into from Kisame if he isn't careful.

"You two will start training again in two days with your sensei," Leader says after a moment of deep thinking. At least I think he was having some deep thoughtful moment it's hard to tell with him at times. "Once Kisame and Itachi think that the two of you are ready, you will be partaking on missions."

"Like a real ninja," Laura asks, her eyes lighting up and a huge grin taking over her face.

"Hai," Leader replies.

"I will do my best in training," Laura proclaims with determination burning in her eyes.

"Now for the bedroom arrangements," Leader continues after Laura sits back down. "Since Sasuke has Tobi's old room you girls will have to share with another member. I've decided that it would be best if you share a room with your sensei. You must get used to the habits of one another because the four of you will be the only four man squad the Akatsuki will have."

I blink multiple times as Leader walks out of the room to the kitchen. Did I just hear him correctly? Must Laura and I really sleep in the same room with our sensei? What's wrong with doing some remodeling and making another bedroom?

"Kahlan," Itachi says and I look at him. He points to the paper and I look down at our language lesson.

"I'm ready to continue," I reply.

Itachi goes back to teaching. I repeat what the words he says and then he has me write them down. Writing is just as hard as speaking the language. It looks like random scribbling to me, so I don't know if I'll ever be able to read it. He shows how to do it properly and copying him is just so damn hard, but I try. And I re-write each word again to familiarize myself with the motion and to get it as perfect as possible. I just know it is going to be a long road. Language learning was never my strong subject back in high school.

After a few hours, Itachi brings the lessons to an end. I sigh happy as my head hits the table. All that work has given me a headache. I hope he doesn't do any testing because I will fail unless I get a warning in advance that there will be a test.

"Go get something to eat," Itachi says.

"M'kay," I mumble pushing away from the table.

Standing up, I head for the kitchen. I search through the cabinets for a quick bite. I come across some chocolate with no one's name on it. Well, that means it's up for grabs. Taking the chocolate down, I happily take it out of its container and eat it. Munching on the chocolate, I get a glass and fill it up with water. Now…what to do with my free time?

Sitting at the table, I pull out my scrolls. I go through the process to pull out my music folder. Opening the folder, I go to a blank music sheet and pick up the pencil. Closing my eyes, I imagine a tune in my head and start humming the melody. With a grin I start writing down the lyrics.

_Yeah, I tend to dance on the crazy side._

_Yeah, I know I'm childish, but I keep my innocence;_

_Growing up is just not something I wanna do._

_And these feelings that you're giving me_

_They're all new and I'm not sure what to do._

I flip the page not sure what else to do with the song. I'll have to talk to Laura about it since it's going to be for her. Argh, I think it is crap. Never mind I just won't show her, or tell her. It will stay hidden in my folder.

Closing the folder I place it back in the scroll and the scroll goes back in my coat. I finish my water then place the cup into the sink. Placing my hands in my pocket I decide to explore the base, for about an hour and that's what I do.

I find myself in front of Konan's room. I knock on the door but get no answer. Shrugging my shoulder, I walk in and see it empty. I go over to the bed and grab Rellik. Until I know where my new room is, I'll just take a nap here. I don't think Konan will mind either, at least I hope she doesn't.

I close my eyes to try and sleep, but it never comes. Groaning, I bury my face in Kona's pillows. Why can't I just get some sleep? What do I need to do, taking sleeping pills; yeah, not going to happen.

Sighing, I climb out of the bed. I make my way out of the room heading back to the living room. I'll see what everyone else is doing to keep themselves entertained.

The only ones in the living room are Kakuzu (he's still counting money), Deidara who has Laura on his lap asleep, and now me. This seriously had to happen. At lot more exciting things were happening when they were in our world. I can't say it was fun exciting things but at least it kept you on your toes and not be bored out of your mind.

"Where are the others," I ask going to take a seat in one of the empty recliners. Maybe I can fall asleep here, I've done it before.

"Sasori-Danna is working on a puppet in his room; Leader didn't want him making a mess out here, yeah."

"Hidan is busy doing a ritual in his room; the Uchiha brothers are training, Kisame is feeding his sharks, and Leader and Konan are doing their own thing," Kakuzu replies in a bored tone.

"Nice," I mumble curling up in the recliner as I place my head on the armrest.

For a little bit I watch Kakuzu count his money. I try to count it but it was in a currency I know nothing about and…yeah that was a fail. So then I look over to Deidara and Laura. Laura is smiling in her sleep snuggled close to Deidara, who is starting to fall asleep while keeping his arms securely around Laura. He better keep her happy.

With a sigh, I look at a random spot on the wall. My eyes become unfocused as my mind wanders into daydreaming (it just may be the closest thing I will get to sleep for a while). At first it's completely fine. I imagine a world similar to Lord of the Rings, and from their I go to one where Dumbledore and Gandalf are having a friendly chat with one another over a cup of tea. From there my daydreams start taking a twist.

At first I'm seeing Deidara and Laura older and dating one another. It's a bit weird but I just let it play out. Laura is happy and laughing as Deidara is holding her in the air spinning her in a circle. That is completely random, are they celebrating something? This daydream should have come with a story log or something to explain what's going on. Weird daydream, but even in the daydream I see how happy Laura is which reminds of the times back in our world and how she got happy when Deidara was around.

I slightly frown and wonder what it would be like if I was in Laura's shoes. As I start to wonder my daydream changes. In the daydream I'm in some sort of café…teashop…place. Sitting across from is Itachi. And somehow…I just know…we're on…a…date. Okay that's enough.

I shake my head and jump up from the recliner. "I'm going to make a large dinner," I say and rush into the kitchen.

I did not like that daydream. That was weird…and wrong…and my face is heating up. No, bad…but, argh this is all confusing. No more daydreams. But what would it be like…how would…no this is territory I shouldn't go into. Stupid heart needs to stop fluttering around

"Argh," I say as I tug on my hair that has come loose.

Okay, I'm just going to ignore it all and work on dinner. Now, I need to think up of a large dinner. Maybe some type of casserole dish with…chicken and rice and eggrolls. Oh, instead of a casserole it can be with lasagna. That should work, people better eat it or cook their own dinner next time.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	12. Chapter 12: Protective

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 12**

_**Note: A sensei is protective of his student.**_

~Laura's POV

Dreams… oh so lovely dreams. I don't wanna leave them yet. I stretch a little but stay in my spot as I feel myself being pulled against something very warm.

I cover my mouth as I yawn a little, rubbing my eyes a little afterwards as I lean back against the warm-ness and soft-ness.

"Morning…-yawns- un," I hear a familiar voice murmurs sleepily into my ear as I cover my mouth to yawn again, that was a very nice nap.

"Morning," I murmur back while turning onto my side and lean my cheek and side against the warm-ness. I hum a little as look down to my waist to see two sets of hands on my waist, moving slightly when I did. I blink my eyes a couple of times as they get used to the light and slowly glance to my shoulder to see Deidara with his eyes closed, he looks like he's trying to fall back to sleep.

I smile a little at this adorable face and poke his cheek softly; causing him to screw his face up for a second before burying his face into my face, murmuring words I do not understand… they must be Japanese or something.

"What, hmm," I hear him murmur after I poke his cheek a few more times, causing him to open his visible eye a little while giving me a very tired look.

"I am bored," I say with a pout causing him to eye me for a second before yawning loudly, covering his mouth while doing so. He stretches out and upwards after giving me my waist back. I make a little face as he joints pop and he sighs, probably in relief… I don't know… I'm not psycho or physic.

"Well, did you enjoy your nap, yeah?" Dei asks as I nod my head softly while leaning back against him, he slowly brings his arms round to wrap round my waist, pulling me even closer as I am sideways facing him.

"Yeah," I murmur with a little blush, leaning against his chest while looking up to him as he rubs his eyes in a really cute way, using the back of his hand. "Can we do something then?" I ask while turning round more to face him correctly, it feels a little weird to be sitting like this but it's pretty comfy. Deidara seems to blush for a strange reason but I will not ask then I'll probably blush too which will lead to awkwardness!

"Sure, how about the If You Absolutely Had To Choose game, un," Dei says as I tilt my head a little, I do not know this game. "You give two scenario and you have to choose one of the other, yeah. You can't say either, neither or both, un," Deidara says as I nod my head, that makes some sense I guess.

"Okay, you can start," I say with a grin as he moves a little in his seat while moving his legs, letting my behind touch the nice black sofa.

"Okay… if you had to eat fried cat liver or jump into a lake of catfish… no water… just catfish, yeah. Which one would you do, yeah?" he questions as I think that through while looking down a little… that is a hard question… I hate fish but I am also a picky eater… but I'm not eating the fish… so the catfish one I guess.

"Jump into the lake of catfish." I say with a straight face as he chuckles a little, "how about you… would you rather walk round the base in one of Konan's dresses for two days," Deidara gives me a weird look for that one but I just giggle at it, "or propose to Hidan,"

"Wear the dress, yeah. I am not marrying that jerk, un," Deidara says causing me to hold my sides while laughing… that would be soo funny to see. "my turn, hmm," he says while smirking at me as I blink innocently, I hope it isn't that bad, "would you rather… become Kakuzu's bounty helper for a week… replacing Hidan… or become the Akatsuki massager for a month, un,"

"Kakuzu's bounty helper, it would be fun," I say with a grin as Deidara chuckles a little.

"I'll take you up on that offer one day," I hear Kakuzu say while not looking up from counting his money… cool I wouldn't mind at all!

"Okay~ Dei~ would you rather help Kahlan and Konan cook dinner for a month or… become Sasori's puppet model for a week?"

"Cooking, I am not modeling for Danna again, yeah," he says while pulling me a little closer, letting me use his shoulder as a resting place. "Would you rather… marry Kahlan," que a very weird look from me, "or live on onions and tomatoes for the rest of your life, yeah?"

"Marry Kahlan, I don't like onions," I say while making a face which makes him chuckle a little more. I grin a little while he grins back; this is a pretty fun game.

"Okay would you-"

"If you guys have time to play silly games then you have time to train in the indoor training grounds," I hear a familiar voice say as I look up to the doorway and see Pein standing there with his arms crossed, looking at both Deidara and I.

"Hello~" I sing while waving as Deidara seems to look between us two before nodding his head to Pein.

"We will in a minute, yeah," Deidara says as Pein watches us for a few seconds before nodding and walking into the kitchen through the arch way. I look to Deidara then to the arch before grinning and jumping to my feet; only to fall backwards back onto Dei's lap… my legs are so dead.

"Come on, up, yeah," he says while helping me to my feet while also standing up a lot easier than I did the first time. I grin him one last grin before surprise hugging Kakuzu for a few seconds… I had to puppy eye him again to get the hug though… before leading the way through the living room and through a long course of ways till we get to a huge room with only one window which is above us and well… the ceiling is window.

"Whoa~" I sing while staring at the ceiling, causing Deidara to look up and grin.

"Like it, it's got glass covering it but it can be turned to let birds with messages in… Itachi's brother seems to train here the most out of all the members, yeah," he says in thought as I notice two people training at the back of the huge room, at the end of the room there seems to be a… indoor lake and the two seem to be training on top of the lake… isn't that Itachi and Sasuke?

"Heeeey Itaaaachiiiii~ Saaasukeeee~!" I yell to the two while waving to the two. I take a few steps forwards as I yell and see the two glances to me but continue to fight one another. "They are ignoring me," I say with a pout as I see Dei walk beside me with a grin, patting my head softly as I pout; that was mean of them.

"Waving or talking to you would give the other brother an advantage, meaning the one who responded would lose, yeah," he says with knowledge with a nod as I lean into him, nodding my head softly to show I understand which I do understand.

"Let's go~" I sing while grabbing his hand softly and dragging him into the forest, I battle best here since I'm a long range fighter like Deidara but at times I can be middle range, it depends on what I have on me and how much chakra I have.

I slowly let go of his hand while skipping slowly away from him before hopping to face him, he has stopped in a clearing as I smile to him. I gather my chakra in my stomach, turning it into light water meaning mist while raising two fingers to my lips, my palm facing me and opposite my neck.

I send my chakra up my throat while winking to him, making it look like I'm blowing him a kiss like they do in the movies but I slowly blow out my mist, resulting in him going from blushing a little to clicking his tongue and jumping up into the trees.

I use enough chakra to cover the tree area. I take a small deep breath before sending chakra to my ears to increase the level of my hearing, I cannot see in this mist no matter what I do so I have to hear, according to Kisame, this is what Zabuza does when he hunts for people in his mist.

I take a smooth deep breath so I cannot be heard then send chakra to my feet and hands, moving around the trees without making a single noise but freeze as I hear movement behind me. I slowly turn my head… and… see… little clay spiders… SPIDERS!

"KYAAA!" I scream while running away from them and running up into the trees, my chakra still at my feet and hands as I jump over every branch and tree trunk I get near to get away from the demon spiders that are following me! "Deeiii quit it please!" I scream while dodging a spider resulting in me letting go of the top of the tree… umm… where'd the rest of the tree go? "D-D-Deeeidaaaraaa!" I scream while putting my index and middle fingers together and try to summon chakra to my feet… why isn't it coming?! Come chakra… come! I-I don't wanna die yet!

I bite down on my tongue as I try to summon my chakra which isn't coming! Please come!

I feel the air rush pass me but soon suddenly stop… am I dead?

"So close, yeah," I hear a very familiar voice as I slowly open an eye… am I truly dead? "You okay, hmm?" I open my eyes properly and see Dei… holding me up while kneeling down on a thick sturdy tree branch.

"D-Deidara!" I almost yell but more cry before clinging onto him, burying my face into his neck as tears start to fall, I almost died… thank you god for Dei here.

"H-hey… it's okay, hmm," he says while rubbing my back softly, letting me sob a little into his neck while hiccupping.

"T-thank you," I murmur into his neck before slowly looking down to rub my eyes, "a lot," I murmur as he grins a little as I look up to him, hiccupping a tiny bit while doing so.

"It's fine, yeah," he says while dropping off of the branch and landing perfectly onto the ground, I rub my eyes a little as he slowly puts me down onto the floor and I stop clinging onto him.

"Dinner is ready!" I hear Konan call from the entry as Deidara looks to the door before grinning, probably happy see hear about food.

"Okay, yeah!" he yells back as I tug on his sleeve a little, causing him to look to me, "yeah?"

"How'd you know where I was?" I ask as he points to the trees as I look up… oh the mist… is clearing slowly… wonder why. I then look up to the glass ceiling and notice that a part of it has been opened and my mist is seeping through there… that makes more sense.

I smile a little while grabbing his hand as I start leading him back to the entry but let him lead me to the kitchen… I got no idea how to get back to the kitchen so on our way back I start to memory out way… I'll need to remember this for later.

It takes a few minutes for us to get to the kitchen and everyone seems to be sitting down, being pulled softly, we sit down in two spare seats where I'm beside Kahlan and Deidara is beside Kisame.

I grin at the food being passed out / our plates are being passed over to each other and I happily eat some of the rice and egg rolls… lovely!

"Ha-ha, here, hmm," Deidara says with a chuckle while grabbing a napkin from the table and wiping my mouth, causing me to whine loudly as he wipes my mouth like a child.

"Soo fucking cute," Hidan says like he's going to throw up at the table… eww. "Oh did everyone fucking know that those fucking two a-!" Hidan is about to say till an egg roll hits him right in the eye, I glance to Deidara who is holding his chopsticks in a weird way before getting back to eating like… like he never threw anything at Hidan, "fucking faggot!" Hidan yells at Deidara who just calmly watches… why do ninjas know big words and I only know very few and I only normally use them when I'm sleepy?

"I'm not a damn faggot, yeah! I am straight, hmm!" Deidara yells over the table as Hidan seems to get this smirk on his face, this cannot be good, and when ninjas smirk it is never good.

"You two stop it," Kahlan says with a glare as Itachi and Sasuke soon walk into the room, a little burned but otherwise fine. Itachi takes his seat beside Kahlan and Sasuke sits between Kisame and Konan, seeming very calm.

"You know fucking what," Hidan says with his ever growing smirk… nuu don't grow…! Stop growing already! "Deidara and… Laura here…" he says as he dodges another egg roll thrown by Deidara and some more rice, "Fucking KISSED!" he yells VERY loudly for everyone at the table for here as my cheeks start to heat up and fast.

"You did WHAT!?" I hear Kisame yell as I see him stand up from his seat, knocking his chair down while he does that… uh oh… he's glaring at Deidara… doing the smart thing I hide under the table as I see Kisame and Deidara run out of the room, Kisame yelling threats and Deidara… well screaming a bit girly like. Oh this cannot end well.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	13. Chapter 13: Bedtime

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 13**

_**Note: As long as you don't back down, you can win an argument with an Uchiha.**_

~Kahlan's POV

"That was simply unnecessary," I say pinching the bridge of my nose.

"No it fucking wasn't," Hidan says. "Aren't you going to fucking chase after him as well?"

"Nope," I reply as I get out of my seat.

"Why the fuck not?"

"It is of no importance," I reply as I crouch down and look under the table. "Are you going to stay hidden under there?"

"Yes," Laura replies nodding her head.

"Fighting is only allowed in the training grounds," Leader yells very loudly as Deidara screams.

Shaking my head I say, "Your sensei is being a little overprotective don't you think?"

"A little bit," Laura says with a nod.

"Come on get out from under here," I say with a smile. "And don't do anymore of…that stuff you and Deidara do, at least not when Hidan or Kisame is around."

Laura pouts but slowly gets out from under the table. Standing up, I pull my chair close and sit back down. Laura's face becomes bright red as she sits back down in her seat with her head down.

"So how was it fucking like to kiss Deidara-chan," Hidan asks with a smirk.

Laura squeaks covering her face. Konan gives Hidan a warning glare. I look around at the table, and then stare at Hidan for a moment then grin.

"Why would you want to know," I ask. "You don't plan on kissing him do you?"

"The fuck," Hidan says getting a look of disgust. "Hell no, that's fucking gross."

Kakuzu makes some sort of noise as if to hide a chuckle. Sasuke gets a small smirk, Itachi continues eating, Laura still has her face covered and Konan has a small smile on her face. The others are obviously not in the room to witness what's going on.

"Are you sure," I ask with fake curiosity. "You did ask how it was like to kiss Deidara, so I just thought you might want to try…or could it be you're jealous."

"Fuck no, never," Hidan yells standing up as he glares at me.

"Well then drop the subject," I reply as I go back to my dinner.

"Hidan, sit down," Konan commands.

Hidan grumbles a lot of swear words under his breath as he sits back down. Leaning over, I pat Laura's shoulder. She looks up and I smile at her. She gives a small smile back and I lean back in my seat.

Kisame walks back into the room, with a little blood on him. He picks up his and Deidara's plate. He places Deidara's plate where his plate was and then takes the seat next to Laura. She looks at him confused and worried.

"He's still alive," he replies picking up an eggroll. "And he's not allowed to sit by you."

"Why," Laura asks pouting with puppy eyes.

"My student," Kisame says putting one arm around her shoulder. He stays silent for a moment probably thinking of a reason why. "It's part of your training."

That is one hell of a screwed up reason. What is it even supposed to do? Nothing but keep them apart most likely. Doesn't he understand they'll find a way to sit next to each other? Man, a lot of fights are going to be breaking out around the table.

"I don't like it," Laura says with a pout.

"There is some training none of us like to do," Kisame says trying to sound wise as he removes his arm from her.

Shaking my head, I go back to eating. A few minutes later Deidara walks into the room. He looks a little dirty and has a busted lip. He sees Kisame sitting in what used to be his seat and glares.

"That's my seat, yeah."

"Not anymore," Kisame replies looking up with a glare.

"Get out of my seat, un."

"I'm not moving."

"Kisame-sensei," Laura whines as she tries giving him the puppy eyes.

"No fighting at the table," Konan says.

"If you two break anything you're replacing it," Kakuzu adds in.

"Just sit the hell down," I say getting annoyed about the entire situation. "You'll both survive being a few feet apart from one another."

"No, un."

"That's your new seat," Kisame says point to the chair Deidara's plate is in front of.

"That is my seat, yeah," Deidara yells and goes to tackle Kisame.

Laura goes back to hiding under the table. Kisame grabs and throws Deidara towards the wall. The two of them start fighting and somehow food gets involved and thrown around. Hidan starts cheering on Kisame. Grinding my teeth together I wonder why in the world I ever missed these guys.

"Enough," Konan says standing up glaring at the two. "Tomorrow the two of you will be sent out on multiple missions to do together. I'll talk with Leader-sama to determine what type of low ranking missions you'll be given. As further punishment your chakra will be closed off so you can't use it. If any of the missions are a failure, you'll be dealing with the consequences from Leader-sama."

"Look what you've done, yeah."

"I wouldn't have to do anything if you stayed away from my student."

"Stop arguing," Konan says with a scary edge to her voice.

Deidara shuts up but glares over at Kisame. In return Kisame ignores him and goes back in the seat next to Laura's. Sighing, I grab both mine and Laura's plate.

"Laura, we'll go eat in the living room," I say moving to the archway.

"Okay," Laura says as she scrambles out from the table.

"Now you guys can't argue about who sits next to her," I say then walk out with Laura into the living room.

Laura sits down on the couch, and I take a seat in one of the black recliners that I am claiming as my own. It is very comfortable and you almost sink into it. That's it; I'm going to find a way to put my name on it so it really can be mine.

"Do you think they stole the furniture," I randomly ask.

"Hmm…they might have," Laura replies with a thoughtful look. "I don't think Kakuzu would allow anyone to pay for them."

"True," I reply with a chuckle.

After finishing our food, I take our plates back into the kitchen. Kisame and Deidara are cleaning up the food that got pulled into their fight as Konan watches over them. Hidan is laughing while he watches them. Sasuke is putting up the leftovers. Itachi is washing the dishes and Kakuzu is now pulling Hidan out of the kitchen saying something about not wanting more trouble to be caused because of him.

"Is there any desert," Laura asks coming into the kitchen from behind me.

"I didn't make any," I reply as I walk over to the sink.

Itachi nods and in translation that means add the dishes into the sink, at least for my translation. So, I place the plates into the warm soapy water. I then take the dish towel and dry the dishes that he has already washed. While drying the dishes I smile slightly even though I'm a bit confused about how helping Itachi with the dishes is making me happy.

"But I did see a cake in the fridge," I say a moment later.

"Oh I forgotten all about that," Konan says. "You can have a slice for desert."

"Awesome," Laura says with a grin.

I chuckle and continue helping Itachi. Kisame and Deidara finish cleaning but Konan forbids them from having any cake as part of their punishment and shoos them out of the room. Laura gets the cake out of the fridge and Konan gets a knife to cut it up.

"None for me," Sasuke says as he grabs an apple and walks out of the room.

"Do you two want any," Konan asks looking over to me and Itachi.

"Sure," I reply as I dry the last dish.

Itachi nods while grabbing some small plates and forks. He takes them over to Konan and she places a small slice of cake on each plate. I happily take my plate and thank Konan. She gives a small smile and walks out with a plate…I wonder who she is giving that to.

"This is some good cake," I say to erase the silence.

"It is," Laura agrees with a grin then takes another bite.

Konan comes back a few moments later and starts eating her slice. Laura finishes her cake first, then Itachi, then I finished and Konan finished last. I take the plates and place them in the sink as Konan goes to put the remaining cake into the fridge. Laura yawns and starts rubbing her eyes.

"Go get some sleep," I say as I hug Laura.

"Okay –yawns- I will," she replies.

"Goodnight, have sweet dreams and don't let the bedbugs bite," I say as I ruffle her hair. She sticks her tongue out and I chuckle pulling my hand away.

"Kisame-sensei where's your room," Laura asks as she walks out. "I'm sleepy."

Placing my hands in my pocket I turn to Itachi. "So…where is your room?" It feels so weird to ask him that.

Itachi starts walking and I follow after him waving goodnight at Konan. Quickly, I grab Rellik from where I left him and then follow Itachi down the hallway; we make a left, right, left, left right and then stop in front of a plain brown door. Itachi opens the door and I walk in trying to keep my face neutral from the fact he held the door open.

Inside the room is clean…perfectly clean. There's a dresser, a bookcase with books and scrolls, and a door that I assume is the closet and one that must be the bathroom. The walls are a dark blue, the carpet is red and there is a medium-ish sized bed that has many soft looking red blankets and white fluffy pillows.

"Nice," I say not really knowing what else to say. No idea why it feels awkward to be in his room, it's not like he hasn't seen my room. "So…how is this…going to work?" I'm realizing there is only one bed and I can feel heat slowly rising to my face.

"I'll take the floor," Itachi replies as he walks over to the bed and grabs a pillow and one of the blankets.

I frown slightly. That's…very gentlemen like of him but…this is his room and it's his bed. Walking over I grab onto the pillow in his hand. He slightly raises his brow. I must look weird since I haven't let go of Rellik either.

"I can take the floor," I say. "Besides I probably won't be sleeping. So yeah, you can keep your bed."

"No," Itachi replies and goes to remove the pillow from my grasp.

"Yes," I reply tightening my grip as I give him a small glare. "I'm not going to allow you to sleep on the floor."

He raises his brow and asks, "And how do you plan on stopping me?"

"I…." I trail of not knowing how to answer. He's a ninja and well…yeah I can't do anything to stop him. "I'll place you into the bed while you sleep." My cheeks start to heat up and I just know there's a blush on my face.

Itachi says nothing for a moment and so I let go of the pillow. He doesn't move and I watch him. My entire insides are going crazy, that it's a bit scary. I have a quick debate with myself and then let out a sigh.

"We both get the bed," I say. "You get one side and I'll get the other until we…can get another bed in the room."

"Fine," he replies and I blink slightly in surprise. Did he really just agree with me?

"Okay then…problem solved," I say sounding confused.

Itachi places the pillow and blanket back. I watch as he goes to the drawers and pulls out some clothes…probably pajamas and then goes into the bathroom. I stand there wondering what I am going to wear to bed. I don't have any pajamas packed in my scroll, and usually I tend to wear my undergarments. Now I can feel my face getting really heated up. Obviously wearing my undergarments to bed is out of the question. I hate Leader for doing this.

Itachi comes out a moment later while I'm still standing in the spot he left me. He is wearing black pajama bottoms and some type of mesh shirt. Lucky, he has something to sleep in and I don't because I hate wearing the clothes I spent the day in to bed. I'm going have to get pajamas next time I go shopping.

"Are you okay," Itachi asks.

"I…need…something to…sleep in," I answer feeling embarrassed.

Itachi nods then walks over to the closet. A few seconds later he goes over to the dresser and pulls something out from the bottom drawer. He then walks over and places the clothing in my hand. I look down at the clothing then up to him.

"Use them for now," is all he says as an explanation.

He…wants me to wear his clothes. I chuck Rellik at him and rush into his bathroom slamming the door shut. I look down at his clothes and I'm seriously wondering if my face can stop heating up. These feelings are getting scary for me.

Placing the clothes down, I go through the process of taking a shower ignoring the fact that I'm using his soap and shampoo. When finished cleaning and drying myself, I place my undergarments on and then pull on his grey shirt. It falls mid-thigh almost looking like a dress. I then pull on the grey pants and pull the strings just so they can stay in place.

Looking into the mirror I see my face is all red. Why did I have to get my bangs cut? Now I won't be able to hide the damn blush. Argh, stupid blush needs to go away.

Shaking my head, I try clearing my thoughts away. After a few moments I walk out of the bathroom. Itachi is sitting on what will be his side of the bed with a book in his hands and Rellik is next to him. He looks up and I look down feeling my face starting to heat up again.

"Thanks," I mumble.

"You're welcome," he says and I glance up to see him still looking at me. Dammit stop looking at me; you're not helping the butterflies to go away.

Looking back down I walk over and get into the bed. I grab Rellik and move to the edge. With my back to Itachi I lie down holding Rellik tightly as I bury my face into his fur and keep my body tense.

"Goodnight," I say, my voice mumbled by Rellik.

"Goodnight," Itachi replies as I hear him close his book.

Soon the lights are out and I just lay in bed trying to calm down. I'm not sure how much time passes but I hear Itachi's breathing even out and become slow. Ever so slowly my body starts relaxing. Removing my face from Rellik I glance behind to look at Itachi. He looks relaxed and very peaceful and I can't stop the smile that comes on my face.

I turn my face back into Rellik and groan. What is going on with me? Sighing, I close my eyes thinking I won't be able to sleep but before I know it I'm off in dreamland with peaceful dreams.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	14. Chapter 14: Sleep Trouble

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 14**

_**Note: A shark can snore… who knew.**_

~Laura's POV

I slowly roll to my left… then to my right… and then onto my front… and then onto my back and yet… I CAN'T SLEEP!

I head butt my own pillow while whining into it… why must sensei snore so loudly? It really doesn't help that sensei's bed is a water bed which he 'borrowed' from my world and… I feel like I'm getting sea sick.

I roll slowly off of the bed but roll onto the floor with a 'THUMP' resulting in me sighing, I'm on dry land again~ Yay~

"So loud," I whisper as sensei continues to yawn, Kisame-sensei divided the bed for us so I got the right half and he got the middle and left… since sensei is much taller then I… but I cannot sleep with his snoring. My brother and dad snore REALLY loudly together but Kisame probably ties them, since my dad works at the night most of the time, I fall asleep before he comes home so falling asleep is no problem… but sensei is soo loud! I can't sleep!

I stare up at the ceiling for a moment before standing up from the floor and pull my poncho which has a really cute black, white and pink blossom design with a yukata like shape to it… that Konan lent me down, it's a little short… well the shorts are the poncho is pretty big on me…so I put a pillow wall between sensei and I since its embarrassing, most of my shirts move up in my sleep and this yukata is NO exception.

I started blushing a lot when I woke up after sensei got into bed and fell asleep, I was tangled up in my covers with my shorts and poncho yukata cover my hips, all loose from where I don't have my plushies to hug, I fidget and move when I don't have my plushies to hug. Thank you lord sensei didn't turn the light on when he walked in… the problem is with the poncho is that if I raise my arms then there is nothing under it but my bra… so yeah… its embarrassing.

I stretch my legs a little before grabbing some pillows and my blanket before walking out of Kisame's room and shutting it behind me, I take three rights and then a left, heading for the living room to see that it's really dark… I can't see anything at all.

I rub my eyes a little as they slowly adjust to the light and hug the blanket and pillows more, I really want to sleep… I can't sleep with Kahlan since she has Itachi in her bed… and Konan said she has something to do tonight so she went to the nearby village… Ahh I want someone to sleep with… not fair.

I stretch a little more… I don't know where Pein sleeps or Sasori… then again Sasori doesn't sleep… or Sasuke… or even Kakuzu… I know where Deidara's room is though.

Knowing this, I slowly walk towards his room but head butt as well while walking… okay I didn't head butt a wall but more or less… walk into one… I really want to sleeeeeep! I slowly head butt another door as I slowly look up from it, nope not the door I want. I turn on my heels and see the door opposite is a dark blue door… I think… that is Deidara's… I really think it is but I am half asleep right now so I am not sure.

I knock on the door with a sleepy tune before turning the door knob and opening the door, pushing my weight against it to open it since I am too tired right now.

I slowly close it after me before slowly walking into the room as my eyes have finally adjusted to the light… well lack of light.

"Deidawa," I whine while crawling onto his bed, I hear him snore but not even near as loud as my brother or dad or sensei but a kinder… cute snore… I shall go with that since I cannot find a better word for it. "Deidaaawaaaa," I whine a little louder causing him to groan, grab his pillow before pulling it over his head… oh he wants to play like does that he! "Dei… DARA!" I yell somewhat loudly as I watch his pillow go flying across the room and hits the wall, I watch as he drops to the floor and he slowly sits up, rubbing his eyes as he sleepily looks round his room before landing on me.

"Morning… hmm," he murmurs before looking round his room again before looking to his alarm clock I'm guessing, "Its only two am, yeah," he groans while flopping back onto his pillow with a yawn, "can't you sleep, hmm?" he says while looking at me with half open half closed eyes as I shake my head softly crawling a little closer while showing him my blanket and pillow. He blinks for a moment before grinning a tiny bit before shifting a little to his left to make room.

"Thank you," I say with a sleepy tone as I crawl in beside him while pulling my covers closer, I watch him as he wraps his arms round me and I snuggle into him and his neck… I feel really safe… a strange feeling.

"Welcome, hmm," he murmurs softly as I yawn into his neck, causing him to chuckle… he's tickling… I'll use it against him later… in the afternoon maybe.

I slowly close my eyes and listen carefully while drifting off… Deidara has a very loud heartbeat… but… it's steady… and it's making me sleepy.

"Brat, get up, you have four missions today," I hear a familiar voice call as I snuggling into the warmth… I don't wanna wake up yet. I hear a small groan from on top of me as I whine a little in my throat as a response, I wanna sleep more.

"Five more minutes, Danna, un," I hear a familiar voice say as I open my eyes a little as my brain starts working, I went to Deidara's room cause Kisame wouldn't stop snoring so loudly and moving about.

"What is she doing in your bed," I hear… Sasori… question as I turn in my spot to see Sasori at the door, crossing his hands over his chest while staring at us… I'm sleepy so please go away.

"Kisame… really loud snorer… moves a lot… couldn't sleep… came here…" I space out before stretching a little with a yawn, "so-so sleepy…" I murmur softly while rolling back onto my other side to snuggle Dei, he's soo warm and comfy… like… I don't know… a Dei?

I hear a small sigh from the door as I hear feet shuffle into the room, "I'll speak to leader about that, snoring isn't a thing you can get used to," I hear Sasori say as I whine into Dei's neck, very sleepy as I try to get back to sleep.

"Danna let me sleep, yeah," I hear Dei say as Sasori stops beside the bed.

"Leader will punish you if you don't…" Sasori pauses for a moment, to think probably, "plus if Kisame sees you two like this, you'll have more than a busted lip," and this causes Deidara to slowly let go of me and slowly sit up, yawning a little.

"Fine, yeah," he grumbles as I slowly open my eyes and peer up to him as he leans down to me, giving me a… k…ki…kisu… on the l…lips before pulling away, "I'll see you tonight then, we'll do something without Hidan and Kisame around, yeah," he says with his regular grin as I blink softly to him before pulling the covers closer to me, it's cold now without his warmth.

"Unn," I mimic while yawning into my pillow, closing my eyes as I feel him push my bangs out of my eyes before getting off of the bed as it moves, footsteps move across the room, all around it till they both leave the room, leaving me alone in the room with my covers and pillows.

I let my sleep take over me while curling up into my covers… still so warm.

What a lovely sleep… oh so lovely sleep.

I bring my hands up to cover my mouth as I slowly open my eyes, rubbing them a little before looking round the room, where am I?

I stretch while sitting up in bed then see some clay statues around the room, showing me that this is Deidara's room. I slowly stand up and stretch more till my joints pop, screwing my face up a little at the sound.

I let my feet do the walking as I walk out of Dei's room with my covers and pillows before walking round to Konan's room where my kimonos are. I slowly walk into Konan's room after knocking and see she isn't in here, I check the clock to see it's almost ten o'clock; that must be why!

I quickly take my kimono into her bathroom and take a quick shower since I personality don't feel comfortable showering in Kisame's room. I quickly dry myself off and pull my light black kimono on as it has a white obi and sleeves; it's pretty cool I guess. I then notice some sort of circle on the back of it and shrug my shoulders, I do not know what this sign means.

I walk out of Konan's room with a yawn and head to the living room and I don't see anyone, nope, no Kahlan or Itachi or even Kakuzu. I skip/jog into the kitchen to see Konan sorting out some bits on the counter.

"Konan~!" I sing while glomping her, grinning. This person is epic and she needs to know it!

"Good morning," she says with a smile while hugging me back.

"Where is everyone?"

"Kisame and Deidara are out on their C-ranked missions, Kakuzu and Hidan are out bounty hunting, Leader-sama is sorting out important cases, everyone else is out apart from Itachi and Kahlan who are still in bed," she says as I nod my head, at least Kahlan is getting a good sleep in. "Is there anything you would like to do?" she asks as I nod my head a little.

"Can we make some sweets? Maybe Anpan?" I ask with puppy eyes since I have always wanted to try Anpan but never had the chance to.

Konan laughs a little bit before nodding, causing me to grin and watch her get out the ingredients for it, "I'll watch over everyone okay," she says as I nod and watch the arch way as Sasuke walks through it with some sweat on his forehead.

"Sasuke~ come help~" I sing while waving to him, causing him to stop and watch for a second before turning on his heels, "Nuuu~" I whine while running round to him and puppy eyeing him, tugging on his Akatsuki cloak sleeve, Pleeeasswseee~" I whine to him.

Sasuke gives me an annoyed look before sighing, meaning I have won~ with a victory fingers, I jump over to Konan and let her work her magic, I am sooo feeding some to Dei when he gets back… well when Hidan and Kisame aren't in the room… that's when I will.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	15. Chapter 15: Mission

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

_**Note: Leader will send you on a mission when he knows you won't get attacked.**_

~Kahlan's POV

I stretch until my joints pop and then snuggle closer to the warmth. It's too cold for my liking and I feel comfortable. With a yawn my eyes flutter open to look for a clock. It takes a few minutes, but I find it. I rub my eyes to help clear my vision. The time read five minutes after ten. I should get up but I'm catching up on a lot of Zs that I've missed. This may be my only chance to sleep the day away.

Turning around, I pull the blankets closer to me. My eyes start closing until it click in my head that I'm not alone in bed. Opening my eyes I see Itachi and I remember Leader said we would be sharing while Kisame shared with Laura. I slightly frown seeing that I moved closer to him sometime during the night, but Rellik is between us so there's no getting closer thankfully.

I just stare at him as he continues sleeping away. He has one hand under his head while the other one is hidden probably under the blankets. A small smile makes it way on my face seeing him looking peaceful. He looks very…handsome, but I refuse to admit such things to him, or anyone else. And I most certainly will not say such things out loud.

After staring at Itachi for a while, I decide it's best to get out of bed. Silently and slowly, I roll out from under the covers. Landing on the floor, I peak over at Itachi to see him still sleeping. Letting out a sigh, I head for the bathroom closing the door softly.

I pick up my coat off the floor (I was lazy and just left it there last night) and go through the entire process of getting my clothes. The only thing available to wear is a dress since the rest of them need to be washed. The sucky part is that I have to be braless for the only clean dress left unless I want someone seeing my bra and snapping it against my back which is painful. Know what, forget it, I'll leave Itachi's clothes on. It is too cold for me to walk around braless in a dress.

Placing the dress back I grab the rest of my dirty clothing and place it in a pile. I place the scroll back and put my coat on. Grabbing my clothes, I silently open the door. Itachi is still sleeping, so I tiptoe over to the door. Silently, I open the door and walk out.

Okay, if I remember correctly it was left, right, left, left, right so that means doing the opposite. I make my way down the hallway until I reach the living room. Awesome, and I smell food cool. I head to the kitchen and peak over my clothes to see Konan, Laura and Sasuke making something.

"Morning," I say. Sasuke doesn't look up but he does give his usual Hn. That boy needs something else in his vocabulary list.

Turning around Laura grins. "You're awake. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," I reply with a smile. "And you?"

"Not really," she replies with a pout. "Kisame-sensei snores reeeeeeeally loudly."

"Yikes," I reply.

Well I'm glad Itachi doesn't snore otherwise he would have been suffocated by a pillow. Well…he probably would wake up before he could suffocate. I'm not a big fan of loud snoring people, or people who grind their teeth in their sleep. It's a major pet peeve of mine.

"And Kisame-sensei also has a water bed," Laura whines.

"I'll never understand how people can sleep on those things," I reply. "So what are you guys making?"

"Anpan," Laura replies with a huge grin.

"Cool," I reply having no clue what the food is.

"It's a sweet roll with bean paste," Laura says.

"I see," I reply with a slight frown. No idea if I'll like it or not, but I'll give it a try.

"What's with all the clothes," Sasuke asks. Finally he says something besides 'Hn'.

"They need to be washed," I reply then look down at my coat. It needs to be added to the pile though I don't want to take it off. "So does my coat."

"We'll go into town in an hour," Konan says. "It is around that time of the week to wash clothes."

"Awesome," I reply with a small smile. "Can we go shopping again as well? I need a pair of pajamas."

"Hai," she replies with a small smile.

"I wanna come with too," Laura says with puppy eyes.

"You may join as well," Konan replies.

"Yay," Laura cheers.

"I'll go put this in the living room," I reply and walk out. I go over to the recliner that I have claimed as mine and place my clothes on it. Pulling up Itachi's sweatpants (or whatever kind of pants they are) I head back to the kitchen.

"They're done," Konan says just as I walk in.

"Yay," Laura says and goes to grab plates.

"They smell good," I comment.

"They do," Laura agrees.

Sasuke grabs some plates while Laura gets some drinks out of the fridge. Deciding to help, I get some cups. Konan places some of the Anpan on the plates. The four of us sit down at the table and start eating. Well Sasuke has decided to eat cereal.

"Wow, these are good," I say after my first bite.

"I love them," Laura says with a grin.

Konan smiles and we continue eating. A few minutes later Leader walks into the room holding a scroll. Laura waves with a grin.

"Are you going to join us," Laura asks with puppy eyes.

"No," Leader replies then turns to Sasuke. Handing Sasuke the scroll Leader says, "When you are finished, take the scroll and go to Konoha."

I perk up a little and look at Leader. I thought Konoha was the enemy of the Akatsuki, why send Sasuke there? Unless there is something about the scroll that will kill all in Konoha. Argh, I seriously thought we were done with ninjas killing one another and being stuck in the middle.

Sasuke only nods his head in reply as he takes the scroll and sets it down beside his bowl. He then continues eating. Leader then glance over at Laura and I then looks back at Sasuke.

"Take Kahlan and Laura with you," Leader says. Sasuke looks up at Leader with a questioning look.

"But…I thought you said that Kisame and Itachi would determine when we're ready to go on a mission," I say.

"Sasuke's mission is simple, something that wouldn't be bad for you two to do," Leader explains. "It will not only give you some experience on what some missions will be like, but with the two of you going it could be an excellent advantage."

"No one is going to die are they," I ask with a frown.

"No, this is a simple D-rank mission," Leader replies. "The two of you will be helpful to our cause."

"And what cause is that," I ask.

"That is to be explained at another time," Leader replies. "Finish and get ready to go on the mission. You have thirty minutes." With that said Leader walks out of the room.

"Well this is just awesome," I mumble as I slouch in my chair.

"Leader wouldn't be sending you two with Sasuke if he thought it would be dangerous," Konan says reassuringly.

"Yay, we get to go on a mission like real ninjas," Laura says happily, almost jumping up and down in her seat with excitement.

"And we get to go to Konoha," I say, which makes Laura even more happy.

For a moment I smile. That means getting to visit our friends like Naruto and Hinata. But then I frown. What the hell am I going to wear on the missions? I refuse to wear that dress. Am I really stuck wearing Itachi's clothes? Eh…somehow I can't find it in myself to really mind. His clothes are comfortable, don't blame me.

"Do you want me to buy you some pajamas while I'm out," Konan asks.

"Nah," I reply. "Sasuke, Laura and I will buy some when we get to Konoha."

"I'm not buying you anything," Sasuke says then finishes his cereal.

"But, I need something to sleep in," I retort.

"Don't care," Sasuke replies going to put the bowl into the sink.

"Hn," I say just to give Sasuke a taste of his own medicine. He turns and gives me a glare and I just smirk. Ha, doesn't feel so good to get that as a reply does it? Laura giggles and Sasuke heads to the archway.

"Hurry up," Sasuke demands and then walks out.

"The hell," I say glaring at the spot he was standing in. "He's insane if he thinks I'll be taking any demands or order from him. I'm going take my sweet ass time." Like I would ever take orders from a kid.

Laura giggles then says, "But then it means it will be even longer before we get to Konoha."

"Ah…very true," I reply then take a bite out of my anpan. "Man, can we take some of these on the mission…and dangos too?" I remember the dangos I had at the anime convention and they were amazing. Plus I saw some in the fridge just begging to be eaten.

"The dangos belong to Itachi," Konan replies. "But you can take these with."

"Okay," I reply then finish the ones on my plate. "I shall start packing."

"I'll help," Laura says as she finishes.

I smile at her and start gathering a few containers. Laura places some of the anpan in one while I steal some of Itachi's dangos. Hey, I have no idea how long they have been in the fridge and there is no note saying no one is allowed to take any so that means it is up for free grabs. Laura and I then pack some rice balls and a few other non-perishable goods.

"I'll be back," I inform Laura as I walk out of the kitchen.

I go down the many hallways to Itachi's room. I should probably think of it as mine as well but…I don't think I can. It was his room first. Plus, I didn't decorate anything nor do I have anything in the room to claim as mine.

Anyways, once in the room I see Itachi is still sleeping. I frown slightly because I don't remember him ever sleeping in this late. My eyes go over to the clock seeing it is almost eleven. Yeah, Itachi has never slept in this late.

Worried, I walk over and gently place my hand on his forehead. He slightly stirs but continues to sleep. I remove my hand not feeling a temperature. Maybe he has been very busy and hasn't been getting enough sleep.

Turning away, I go to his closet and take out a few of his shirt. I then go to the dresser and open the drawer I saw him take his pants out. Glad I open the right one and not one that may have had…his underwear. Okay, I can feel my face heating up.

Shaking my head, I grab a few of his pants as well. I then pull out my scroll and go through the process of placing them inside. With that done I search for some paper and something to write with. I find it easily on the top bookshelf. With a smile I write him a note.

_Dear Itachi,_

_Your clothes are comfortable so I stole some of them, mostly because mine need to be washed. I also stole some of your dango because they're tasty. I hope you don't mind, and just know I was at least kind enough to not wake you up and to have left you this letter. Also, please look after Rellik._

_Sincerely, Kahlan_

Finish with writing the letter I go and place it on the pillow next to him. I grab some tape and take another sheet of paper. Silently, I tiptoe out and close the door softly. I head back all the way into the living room. Once in the living room, I tape the paper onto my recliner and write: _Property of Kahlan's so don't touch._

"Okay, I'm ready," I say with a smile as I walk into the kitchen. I'm so excited to go see everyone. I wonder how long it will take to get there.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	16. Chapter 16: Konoha

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

_**Note: When travelling with an Uchiha, you may attract unwanted attention.**_

~Laura's POV

Right now I am packing all I need for the mission… my very first mission! I asked Sasuke how far away Konoha was and he said a one day walk so we would get there tomorrow morning, he also said we would leave tomorrow at evening so we would wonder round the village for a little while but he also said no longer than six hours.

I have packed lots of snacks, kimonos, my sword and I have my headband hanging loosely round my neck, Konan said as long as I go through the gates with Sasuke, I won't get questioned because of the cross through my headband.

"I'm ready~" I sing while hoping into the living room where Konan is standing with three boxes and three envelopes… weird.

"Good," she says with a smile before handing me one of the boxes and an envelope. "Leader-sama has made one envelope each, money to spend while you are in Konoha for anything you may need such as shampoo, clothes, snacks… things to entertain you," she says as I peek inside the envelope and notice the weird type of money… IT'S RYO! "The box is the lunch I have packed for you three," she says with a smile as I glomp her happily.

"Thank yoou~" I sing while cuddling her, resulting in this awesome person chuckling and hugging the awesome me back~ I got food and money~ well weird money~!

"You're welcome," she says while smiling a little and hugging me back, I feel soo loved! We are epic people ya know!

I slowly pull away from our hug then start to walk round the room, waiting for Sasuke and Kahlan to come.

It takes another five minutes till Kahlan walks into the room with her scroll then Sasuke walks in almost ten seconds after Kahlan does… it's creepy.

"Let's go," he says while turning his back to us… well his Akatsuki cloud to us before walking out to the entry of the base and using some weird hand signs to open the rock like door which slides to let us pass.

I grin to myself while skipping out of the base and wave to no one before following after Sasuke, humming with the tune of 'Scream and Shout' by Will. .

Silence seems to take over our walk as I try to think of things to talk about… okay… umm… yeah… oh I got one~!

"Hey Sasuke~ why are you in the Akatsuki anyway?" I ask while skipping to Kahlan's side with a grin, I actually want to know this answer.

Sasuke seems to glance back to us since he is leading us to Konoha since… well I got no idea what-so-ever~

"I joined… for my own reason," meanie didn't say. "Though, I do plan to join Konoha again, but I'm not joining without my brother," he says while walking, not even glancing back as I blink and stare at his back. He wants to JOIN Konoha? With Itachi? I thought he wanted to kill Itachi and destroy Konoha? Then again, we did see Itachi sacrifice himself for Itachi and… wait-wait-wait… does Sasuke know the truth about Konoha? If he does I know he wouldn't want to join the leave… is Danzo dead? If he isn't then Sasuke will no doubt kill him since he was the person who more or less sent Itachi to kill the clan… Itachi is here to tell Sasuke not to destroy Konoha… so maybe he does know… I don't know my head is starting to hurt now from all the thinking.

"Confusing," I state while holding my head, its spinning a little from all the thinking.

"Are you okay?" Kahlan asks as I nod my head.

"Too much thinking," I say which makes her laugh; thinking hard over something isn't something I normally do.

This walk really seems to be dragging on. I think that as I stare at the sky as it is starting to go an orange-like colour, must be the sunset… its really pretty.

I look to Sasuke as he slows his pace down to a stop before putting his hand up, signaling us to stop. His hands soon points to the forest which he soon walks into. What is Sasuke doing? Are we camping maybe?

I glance to Kahlan with a confused look as she shrugs her shoulders before following him into the forest. We walk for about ten minutes before stopping, right in the middle of the forest before putting our bags down with a sigh… well I sigh at least.

"Soo much walking," I sing while propping my behind down on the floor before stretching, I stop and watch Sasuke and Kahlan get something out of their scrolls then notice they are tents… Yay we are camping!

I stay in my seat while watching the two unpack the tents then magically set the tents up in minutes… they are epic awesome.

"Aweeesomeee~" I sing while jumping to my feet and walking round the tents like watching them before grinning to the epic people and nod my head, they are epic awesome like that.

"Let's eat," Kahlan says as Sasuke walks off into the forest and Kahlan pulls her scroll out as I do the same thing, I pull out some of the Anpan which smell soo nice and they are still a little warm. I start nibbling on mine as Sasuke comes back with a LOT of firewood before dumping it all onto the ground in the middle of the camp site before halving it and setting the first half on fire with a fireball jutsu… still so epic… I'm water I would love to be fire. Oh well, I know healing jutsu and they don't~

After Sasuke sets the firewood… on fire… he walks off again as I look up to the sky while stuffing the rest of my Anpan into my mouth, the stars are just coming out.

"This is pretty nice," Kahlan says as I nod my head and fall back onto my bed, now finished with my room and staring up at the sky where the stars are… so pretty.

"Yep," I say before yawning loudly into my hand, why am I so tired all of a sudden? I stretch myself out on the ground before putting my arms behind my head for a pillow, staring up at the stars till I close my eyes and darkness takes over completely.

I yawn loudly while covering my mouth, murmuring stuff about plushies and cookies to myself while opening my eyes a little.

"Good morning," Kahlan calls as I rub my eyes a little while looking to my right… she's walking but I'm not walking… how am I walking? I look down a little to see Sasuke carrying me then I look up to the sky… the sun it up… I must have fallen asleep on the ground while looking at the oh so wonderful stars last night.

"Morning," I murmur while rubbing my eyes and holding onto Sasuke's neck while looking forwards, still tired as I see a burly village in front of us.

"That's Konoha," Sasuke says as I quickly rub my eyes and peer forwards… oh my god… IT'S KONOHA!

Kahlan seems to stare intensely at it as I shake a little on his back… I wanna goooooo!

I whine loudly at this as Sasuke sighs, probably getting why I am whining.

"Let's go," he says before leaning down a little while running, oh right, this is a normal position for sprinting for ninjas. I look to Kahlan and wave as she starts running as well and it doesn't take us long at all to get to the huge and I mean HUGE FREAKING HUGE Konoha gates!

"Stay right there!" I hear a ninja yell as I look to the gates and see… Izumo and Kotetsu if I am correct. The gate keepers and Tsunade's errand boys.

I wave to the two with a grin as Sasuke stops in front of the gates, staring at them with his glare as the Kotetsu seems to get his weapon out and Izumo runs over to him, carefully while keeping his distance from Sasuke.

"State your business here," he commands as I look to Kahlan who is looking between the three males.

"I have a letter from Pein, Akatsuki leader, to the Hokage, Tsunade," he says boredly as he gets out the scroll before waving it a little in his spare hand. Izumo eyes the scroll carefully before looking to Kahlan and I, I wave to him which causes him to glare at me, resulting in Sasuke moving his body to remove me from sight and Izumo's glare.

"Very well then, we'll accompany you to the Hokage," he says with his glare as he looks to Kotetsu before nodding. I watch Kotetsu as he walks over with his weapon still out, eyeing us all with caution.

"It's just a letter, no need to get jumpy," Kahlan says while rolling her eyes to the Izumo and Kotetsu who watch her sternly.

"Sasuke~ put me down I wanna walk," I whine while moving a little, childishly, maybe if I act like a kid… Izumo and Kotetsu will think of me as powerless and will let me explore the village. Sasuke slowly puts me down causing me to jump on the spot while looking round. "Soo cool and huge~!" I sing while looking round the village from outside the gates, eyes sparkling a little. "Sasuke-Sasuke can I go explore?" I ask while jumping on the spot, puppy eyes ready as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Whatever," he says as I grin before running inside of the gate before stopping, looking round at the huge buildings and many people walking by, some ninjas are glaring at me, probably because of my ex Kirigakure headband which is round my neck still.

"Kahlan~!" I sing while turning on my heels and waving to her, grinning as I see Kotetsu and Izumo look SO confused, Sasuke is smirking at me, probably seeing through my act… how… okay ever mind he is an Uchiha, and Kahlan is watching me, smiling before walking after me and straight pass Izumo and Kotetsu. "Sasuke~ we're be doing some shopping if you need us~" I sing while waving as he nods his head before looking to Kotetsu and Izumo, saying something which makes them nod and I watch them jump off… no really… jump off of buildings heading somewhere~

"Should we get some breakfast first?" Kahlan asks as I nod my head with a grin before grabbing her hand and rushing off to the one place in the village where I know where it is… Ichiraku ramen~

We soon get to the shop with fearful looks from a lot of the ninjas but stop when I see an orange jumpsuit teenage, another teenager with a leather jacket, a large dog standing beside the guy with a leather jacket and a purple pants and long sleeved shirt… wait I know who these are! Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru and Sai, that's his casual outfit last time I checked.

I watch Akamaru as he puts his head up before running out of the ramen shop and over to us, barking loudly.

"O-Oi! Akamaru!" I hear Kiba yell as Akamaru runs over to us and tackles me to the floor, licking my cheeks which makes me giggle loudly, it tickles!

"H-Hello Akamaru," I say through the giggle while patting the huge doggy's head which makes him whine and stop licking me, "I missed you too," I say with a grin before hugging him round his neck, I love this doggy!

"Laura? Kahlan?" I hear a familiar voice asks as I look up to see Naruto, Kiba and Sai staring at us, Naruto's eyes are watering while grinning, laughing even, Sai actually looks pretty shocked and Kiba is grinning with tears in his eyes.

"Yo~" I say as I watch Naruto tackle me into a hug while Kiba tackles Kahlan into a hug. I feel loved!

"You're alive," Kahlan says softly while hugging Kiba back as I quickly squeeze Naruto before getting off of the floor and glomping Sai who stands there… awkwardly.

"I missed you Sai, Kiba, Naru-kun," I say with a grin while squeezing Sai before moving onto Kiba and then back to Akamaru, I love this doggy a lot!

"What are you two doing here?" Sai asks with his… 'Smile' as I look between the two before thinking… should I lie or should I tell the truth?

"We're doing some shopping, want to help," Kahlan asks innocently as I giggle a little seeing her plan of them 'helping' us.

"Sure," Naruto says with his grin as I grin back and stroke Akamaru more, this should be fun… once our shopping is over we'll tell them, I promise that.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	17. Chapter 17: Hokage

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 17**

_**Note: Beware that the hokage will get annoyed from sneak attack pictures.**_

~Kahlan's POV

"Awesome," I cheer with a grin then hug Naruto. He hugs back which makes me happy. "I missed you so much my adoptive little brother."

"Nani," Naruto says sounding confused.

I pull away and look at Naruto confused. I'm still learning the language, how dare he use it on me. Okay let me think back to my first and only lesson I have had so far. If I remember correctly it means…something…it means…ah ha I remember now, it means what.

"Oh, I have adopted you as my little brother," I say with a smile.

"You can do that," Naruto asks with wide eyes.

"Yep, yep, yep," I reply. I'm in a really giddy mood today. Grabbing Naruto and Laura's hand I grin at Kiba and Sai. "We are now going to start our shopping trip."

"This can't be good," Kiba mutters and I chuckle.

"Now…someone has to lead the way to the clothing store," I say.

"I will," Naruto says happily and leads the way. What a good adoptive brother he is.

We soon come across a store. I can't read the name so it will forever remain nameless. Getting inside, my eyes scan over the entire place until they land on what looks like a section for pajamas.

"I'll take Naruto and Sai," I say to Laura as I let go of her hand. "Have fun with Kiba and Akamaru."

"Okay," Laura says with a giggle.

"Catch up with you when we do," I say as I start dragging Naruto and Sai to the pajama section.

I look through the section carefully. I want something for the warm days and something for cold nights. Nothing is to be revealing because that would be very awkward. Well, I'm not sure if it would be awkward for Itachi but it would be for me.

Anyways, I don't want anything green, at least not something with a lot of green. I definitely don't want anything pink. Something that is purple or has butterflies will work best for me. So, I look through their large selection.

Whatever catches my eyes, I throw it over to Naruto or Sai. After getting a good amount (blocking both their views with the pile of clothes) I head for the dressing room to try them on. The ones that don't fit go into the reject pile and the ones that do fit go into the maybe pile. I have Sai take back the rejects as I went through the maybe pile to check the prices. Anything that I find expensive went into the reject pile until I'm left with seven, enough to last for a week.

Finishing with the pajamas I head back into the changing room. I change into clean clothes since it is hard to do while traveling while putting the dirty ones into my scroll. Okay, truthfully I get freaked out and slightly paranoid about the fact of changing in a forest. Something I have learned about myself while in this world.

I change into black sweatpants (or training pants, they're pants that's all I know and care about) and into a red long sleeve shirt. The pants are big and a bit baggy so, I have to pull onto the strings to make them stay on. As for the shirt, again it ends about mid-thigh, but the sleeves go past my hands that I have to roll them up a couple of times.

Getting out of the changing room, I find out that Naruto has put the rejects back. Handing the pajamas to Naruto the three of us head to the counter. I don't see a reason to buy any other type of clothes when I have my own (back at the base) and Itachi's.

The total amount is 1500 ryō, which I pay thanks to Leader giving us money. I have Sai carry the two bags and meet up with Laura, Kiba and Akamaru at the door. From there Naruto becomes the guide of our stores. Laura buys some stuff while I try to hold back from having an all-out shopping spree. I do buy a camera even though I know I have my own in my scroll but their film is different than the kind I use so I had to buy one, which came with a small pack of film. With the camera I then bought another photo album.

I then start on my camera adventure instead of shopping, which is good that means no spending money. Naruto seems to love posing for the camera. And during the camera adventure, I take sneak attack pictures of everyone. Like the look on Naruto's face when Sai says something bringing in the mention of Naruto's manhood which I hit Sai on the head for, telling him not to talk about Naruto like that.

While on the wonderful adventure we run into Hinata. Well it is more along the lines that, we saw Hinata and Naruto runs to her shouting her name. Hinata turn around and seeing Naruto started blushing. I can't help myself and I take a picture.

"Look Hinata," Naruto says with a grin as he places an arm around her shoulder and points to our group, of course she's blushing bright red at this point. Kiba starts laughing for some reason. "It's Laura and Kahlan."

"Hinata," Laura says happily and goes to give Hinata a hug.

"Laura-chan," Hinata says shyly, returning the hug.

"I missed you," I say when the rest of us reach them. I pull Laura, Hinata and Naruto in a group hug. "Join us you two," I say to Kiba and Sai.

"Alright," Kiba says with a grin as he pulls Sai into the group hug.

"We are amazing," I say and then I take a picture.

"Kahlan," Laura whines. "I wasn't ready."

"That was the point," I reply smiling. I love taking my sneak attack pictures.

"It's good to see you," Hinata says.

"We're so happy to see you," I say.

"When did you two get here," She asks.

"Yeah, when did the two of you get here," Kiba asks looking at the both of us.

"Can we get something to eat first," Laura asks with puppy eyes. At the mention of food my stomach growls along with Naruto. I slightly blush in embarrassment while Naruto chuckles rubbing the back of his neck.

"I agree to the food," I say. "We can explain some stuff over food."

"Let's go to Ichiraku Ramen," Naruto suggests with a huge grin.

"We ate there a few hours ago," Kiba says. Naruto sticks his tongue out at Kiba.

"No thanks," Sai replies.

"I'll c-come with N-Naruto-kun." Naruto gets a huge grin making Hinata blush once again.

"I want to go," Laura says.

I slightly frown and say, "Do they serve dango?"

"No just the best ramen in the world," Naruto replies.

"Damn, I want dango…and I need to buy some for Ita…sensei," I say. Oops, I don't think it would be wise to say Itachi's name.

"You have a sensei," Naruto asks with wide eyes. "When did you get a sensei?" Count my lucky stars they didn't catch onto the slipup…hopefully.

"Well…sort of," I answer. "I don't really like calling him sensei. Anyways, let's go eat. We'll have ramen and pick up some dango later."

I'll buy Itachi some dango for the ones I stole and give them to him when we get back to the base. I hope it makes him happy…not that I care…okay so I care if he's happy or not. Yes, it's strange at least for me it is and I don't understand why I care so much. I'll have to figure it out at a later time.

"Yay, let's go to Ichiraku," Naruto cheers happily.

He then grabs Hinata's and Laura's hand then starts running to wherever the place is at. I grab onto Laura's and Kiba's hand so we can follow. And well, Kiba grabs Sai's hand and that is how our human chain started.

"We're back," Naruto announces as we reach what I assume is the place we'll be eating lunch. "And we brought guest!"

"Well hello," says a man behind the counter with a smile.

"Hi," says a pretty girl also smiling.

"Hi," Laura says with a grin.

"Nice to meet you," I reply with a slight bow of my head as we all take a seat. It goes Sai then Kiba with Akamaru between them, me, Laura, Hinata and then Naruto.

"What will you all have," the man asks.

"A small bowl of pork ramen," Kiba replies.

"I want chicken," Laura says with a grin.

"I'll have wonton ramen," Sai says with a fake smile.

"Miso ramen for me," Naruto shouts happily.

"I'll also have miso," Hinata says looking down with a small blush.

"Uh…." I say and look at the menu. None of it is in English, which sucks. "I'll have miso as well."

"Alright," the man says. "I'll have the food out soon." The man and women walk off to well no doubt o make the food.

"So, while we're waiting, how did you guys get here," Kiba asks.

"Well…we came here from a storm," I reply and then explain the storm part. I leave out about getting together with the Akatsuki. That would just cause so much unwanted trouble.

"What are you doing in Konoha," Naruto asks. "Not that we don't mind, we're really happy to see you guys."

"And we're happy to be here too," I reply with a smile.

"Yep," Laura agrees grinning. She then stops grinning and says, "We're here with Sasuke."

"Sasuke is here," Naruto asks his eyes going wide and looks like he is about to bolt to search for said person.

"Yeah, he went to go talk with Tsunade," I reply.

"Why wasn't I invited," Naruto asks tugging at his hair. "He needs to stop doing things without me and my help."

I look at Laura confused and she shrugs her shoulders. "Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"Never mind I have to go to Tsunade and Sasuke now," Naruto says jumping up from his seat. "Can I have the ramen to go?"

"Whoa Naruto chill," Kiba says.

"No, I can't, this is really big," Naruto says. "You don't understand."

"Then explain," Sai says.

"I…I can't at least not yet," Naruto says. I am feeling completely lost.

"Here you go Naruto," the man says coming out with a large styrofoam-ish type of cup handing it to Naruto.

"Thanks," Naruto says then takes off running.

"I say we follow," I say standing up. Pulling out some money I place it on the counter. "We'll all take ours on the go."

"Alright," the man says with a smile. He lets the money stay on the counter as he hands each of us a similar Styrofoam-ish cup (except Kiba's is smaller). "Have a nice day," the man says then takes the money. Cool, I guess costumers come first. And I now remember them as Teuchi and Ayame.

"Lead the way…somebody," I say as I use my ramen cup to warm my frozen hands. I didn't realize my hands were frozen until now.

"Sure this way," Kiba says with a grin and takes off running.

"Not so fast," Laura calls while the rest of us follow.

We run through the streets making some twist and turns that I don't bother to remember. I'm sorry if I am more concentrated on not spilling hot ramen all over me even if it is covered. We come across this big building that has a large amount of stairs. But none of us stop, we just continue following Kiba all the way to the top and down some hallways until we reach the door.

"We should…." Before I can say knock Kiba is barging into the room. The hell is wrong with him?

"We made it," Kiba says as the rest of us stagger into the room.

"That was not cool," Laura says trying to catch her breath.

"What are you…Laura? Kahlan?"

I look up to see Tsunade sitting behind a desk. In front of her are Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto looks a bit shock probably because we followed and Sasuke looks annoyed. Beside Tsunade is a shock Shizune with Tonton in her hands.

"Hello," I say with a small nod as I lean against the wall to catch my own breath. Those stairs sure did take the breath out of me. Hmm, maybe I should find some stairs to run up and down for training to help my stamina some more.

"Tsunade," Laura says after catching her breath.

I take her ramen from her and she goes to hug Tsunade. Not caring if this was a serious atmosphere; I place both our ramen down and take a picture. Hey, I need to fill up my photo album, who knows what could happen, so don't judge me.

The sudden flash of the picture being taken causes people to look at me. Sasuke still looks annoyed, Naruto grins (I really think he likes his picture being taken), Sai looks neutral, Kiba is chuckling nervously, Shizune has gotten out of her shocked state, Laura is slightly pouting and Tsunade looks a bit annoyed. It looks like she doesn't like having a sneak attack picture taken of her.

"Sorry," I say with a small bow. "I've been going a little overboard with taking pictures."

Tsunade sighs and says, "What is going on? And don't take any more pictures." I nod in reply.

"That's what we came here to find out," Kiba said. "Naruto was acting all crazy at Ichiraku, going off about how Sasuke shouldn't be doing things without him and his help."

Sasuke looks over at Naruto giving him a slight glare. Naruto holds up his hands in the air and says, "I didn't tell them anything teme I swear."

Picking up Laura's and my ramen cups I say, "It looks like there's going to have to be a lot of explaining done."

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	18. Chapter 18: Deals

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

_**Note: Going to ninja school is like normal school but with ninja… DON'T GO!**_

~Laura's POV

"A lot of explaining to do," I say while pouting to them all and grab my ramen; I'll eat this while they explain. Why you may be asking? Because I am hungry since I don't remember eating this morning so this will be the first thing I eat today… I know it isn't healthy but hey… its food!

Tsunade seems to sigh while leaning back in her chair, the scroll that Sasuke had laid out on her desk though I have no idea what is says… I don't read or write or even know Japanese. "Where do I begin," she says aloud while pinching the bridge of her nose before looking to Kahlan and me with a stern look as I open my ramen and start eating… oh my god I think I'm in love… soo awesome epic food.

"An alliance with Konoha and the Akatsuki has been established," Sasuke states as everyone seems to look shocked… and so am I. I mean what the heck happened while we were gone? Did the Akatsuki go good guys but Ame said they have been doing some attacks but they are paid for it but wouldn't that mean that they could be paid to attack one of the main villages? Ohh I am sooooo confused and now my head hurts from the thinking… Yay… not. Why must the world be soo confusing… why I ask you?

"We have what!? So can you join an alliance with… with those people?!" Naruto yells while looking at Sasuke then to Tsunade, he almost looks betrayed at why. I look between Naruto and Tsunade as she looks up to him with a stern gaze which is a little scary.

"It is finally, we both now have a similar goal," Tsunade says while standing up from her desk and looking over the scroll before putting her hand on one part of it which makes a photo appear on it, "To kill this man," he says while showing a picture of… Obito… well Tobi… but this is him when all the Akatsuki have died… that weird white-ish mask.

"Who is that," Kahlan asks me as I gulp a little… he's scary.

"This is an ex member of the Akatsuki, Tobi, his aim that we know of is to destroy this world," Tsunade says as Naruto's hands clench together while grinding his teeth at the photo. I watch as Tsunade turns to me before narrowing her eyes a little, "it mentions in the scroll that you are familiar with those 'Naruto' manga books, do you know anything about this man," she asks as I state at the photo for a few moments, it's a picture of Obito at his hideout, standing in front of Orochimaru with Kabuto by his side, they seem to be talking about something but none the less, it looks like they are allies since they are not talking.

I nod my head softly before looking to Tsunade who grins, probably thinking of an idea. This if good I guess since her plans are… sometimes good.

"Yoshi," she says with her grin before looking from Sasuke to me then to Kahlan. "Laura, Kahlan, Sasuke, I will arrange with Pein to borrow you three for a while, if we can arrange something, you three will be staying at Konoha for a few weeks, Sasuke, you will be placed on Team Kakashi and Yamato again, Laura and Kahlan also Team Kakashi and Yamato-"

"NO!" I yell while letting go of my ramen cup which drops to the ground, missing me and spilling around my shoes. "I don't want to I don't want," I say while shaking my head and lowering my head, I won't train with anyone but Kisame-sensei! I won't I won't I won't!

"Laura," Tsunade says while looking to me, I refuse to look straight up to her so I listen, "this will be the deal that connects the Akatsuki and Konoha, meaning you three here will insure that the Akatsuki keep their part of the alliance," she says as I nod but don't look up.

"I don't care… I don't care I don't care I. Don't. Care!" I yell before turning on my heels and out of the building, I don't want to leave everyone at the Akatsuki for weeks! Three months was horrible for me and now… now I can stay with them… I don't want to leave even for a few days! I know if I train with everyone for weeks… then I won't want to leave them and I don't want to leave the Akatsuki right now! I don't want to leave and never return… like before.

I breathe deeply while pushing my thoughts to the back of my mind as I quickly sprint down the stairs and sprint up the Konoha wall and into the forest. I hide in the trees while finding the tallest tree I can find, right in the middle of the forest. It takes me over five minutes to get near the top where the branch is able to hold my weight, once I find the right branch; I sit down on it and lean my back against the trunk of it.

I don't want to go to the Konoha side… I don't. I feel at home with the Akatsuki, with everyone. I rub my eyes a little while looking to Konoha, how everyone seems to be going about their normal lives like nothing is happening… why do I feel so lonely all of a sudden?

I pull my legs to my chest while wrapping my arms round them, why would I have to stay here as well… what's wrong with just Sasuke and Itachi staying here… it's not fair… I don't want to. Even sensei telling me to come and train here won't mean I'll listen… not even to sensei… yeah not even Kisame-sensei.

I sigh a little to myself before looking up to the sky… I really don't want to stay here… visit yes… stay… no.

I close my eyes closely and listen to everything around me… so peaceful, so quiet… so sleepy. I really don't want to stay here to train… I'll get attached to everyone and won't want to leave… I know Konan and everyone won't want to live here so I'll be away from them… that it… is the worst feeling I've ever felt… that feeling… please don't ever come back.

Where am I… this… doesn't feel like a tree.

I yawn loudly while covering my mouth and stretching… that was a very nice nap.

"Good afternoon," I hear Kahlan say as I yawn a little more before hugging the warmth… so sleepy.

"Morning…" I murmur while opening my eyes slowly to see Naruto is carrying me… where did he come from? "How did you guys-"

"You fell out the tree, you're lucky Kakashi-sensei saw you fall from the height, if not you'd be dead," Kiba says while rolling his eyes at me, "don't do that you had us all worried," he says as I pout a little, I didn't mean to worry them.

"Sorry," I murmur while looking ahead at Naruto… where are we heading?

"I can't wait to get home and have a long bath," Kahlan says with a sigh after sparing me a smile while we are walking, I look round our group and see Hinata, Sai, Sasuke and Sakura… wonder where everyone came from.

"We're… going home?" I ask while rubbing my eyes, still half asleep at the moment, I really wanna see Konan and Dei right now… I miss them a lot.

"Yeah," Kahlan says with a smile but I am not sure if it's a happy smile or a sad smile… ITS BOTH! I really want to get home and have a bath… lots and lots of bubble… maybe Konan can let me borrow her bubble bath if she has any… also cookies and snacks in the bath… EPIC!

I smile a little and snuggle against Naruto who is leading everyone with Sasuke at his side… like Ant and Dec… they both rock as well!

I look up to the gate as we pass under it and Naruto slowly puts me down as I get my balance back, I sooooo need a looooong cuddle with Dei when I get back, I miss his cuddles.

"Let's go," Sasuke says after nodding to Naruto with a smirk, nods to everyone else before walking on head of our group, not looking back and with another scroll in his hand but it's a different colour, probably one from Tsunade to Pein.

"Hawaii~" I sing happily and randomly as it confuses people before hugging everyone but Sakura, I don't like her and her hair colour.

"We'll see you guys soon," Kahlan says which makes me glare to the floor before jumping onto Sasuke's back and refusing to let go, I don't wanna go you cannot make me NO NO-NO NO NO-NO NO NO-NO NO NO-NO NO NO-NO!

"Can't you walk by yourself," Sasuke asks rudely while letting me cling onto him as he carries me, you cannot make me go I will only be trained by Kisame-sensei.

"I can but don't wanna," I say childishly while clinging onto him but look back to see Kahlan whispering something to Hinata which makes her blush before hugging her and running after us, waving to everyone, I wave back but keep my balance on Sasuke, he's my carrying person.

"Hn," is all he says as he continues carrying me as Kahlan catches up, a small sad smile on her face as she gives everyone one last wave before following Sasuke as he leads the way back… and he carries me since I am being lazy and walking in a kimono is pretty hard… but comfy.

I yawn loudly while covering my mouth before leaning my chin on his shoulder, I feel soo sleepy… I do love sleeping.

"Laura…why don't you want to train with the Konoha ninjas?" Kahlan questions as I cling onto Sasuke more like a pillow before murmuring my answer which she doesn't catch.

"I don't want to… I only want to be trained by Kisame-sensei and no one else," I say while shaking my head, "no one ever, sensei is my sensei and my only sensei, its final, no changing my mind," I say while looking down to the floor while shaking my head, I don't want to be taught by anyone but sensei.

"Okay," Kahlan says with a small smile as I rub my eyes a little and watch time fly by till I fall asleep… I don't want anyone replacing Kisame-sensei ever… I hope when I wake up I see Deidara cause he will be hugged as well as Konan.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	19. Chapter 19: Compromise

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

_**Note: For deals to work there are times when compromises must be made.**_

~Kahlan's POV

Our journey back to the base is silent with Laura sleeping away on Sasuke's back. I don't mind because it leaves me to my thoughts. Being in Konoha was…nice, plus we got to see a few of our friends. And I've got pictures that I will be putting in the new photo album. It will be titles…no idea I'll figure it out later, I have other things to think about.

It's strange that the Akatsuki and Konoha are actually creating an alliance. But I guess when you and your enemy has a common enemy that a temporary alliance can be made. Maybe…and this is just wishful thinking…when all is said and done it can be a permanent alliance.

As for the deal about us staying in Konoha for a while to train, I understand where Tsunade is coming. In fact I wouldn't mind staying in Konoha for a while, but do I really want someone else teaching me? I'm completely fine with having Itachi as my teacher, even though I don't like calling him sensei. Can I deal with the fact of not seeing the Akatsuki? Honestly…yes because I know they're alive.

I let out a sigh and decide to leave the rest of my thinking for later. So we continue walking in silence until the sun is about to set. Sasuke walks into the forest and I follow. He leads the way for a good few minutes before coming to a stop and placing Laura down, leaning her against a tree.

Sasuke then walks away. I move around the camp area setting up the tents. Thanks to Itachi teaching me I've actually gotten good at setting them up. By the time Sasuke gets back, I have both tents set up. He places down a large pile of sticks, goes through the hand signs and within moments has a fire going.

I pull out some leftover of the anpan and heat it up. Laura starts waking up a little, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Taking a few of the heat up anpan, I go and sit beside Laura.

"Morning," she says sleepily. "Are we back yet?"

"Not yet," I reply. "But we will be back tomorrow." She pouts and I pat her on the head. "Eat this."

"Thanks," she says taking two of the anpan and starts eating.

I smile and slowly eat the ones for me. My thoughts drift away as I look up at the night sky. I've come to the conclusion that I don't really care all that much who is teaching me. I have dealt with multiple teachers back in high school. I can live without seeing the Akatsuki for a while, but…I think it's about time I start being honest to myself about a few things even if they are scary thoughts to be thinking about.

First thing to admit is I don't think I can live without seeing Itachi for more than a few days. Why do I feel that way? Okay, I can admit I care about him…a lot. And the more I'm going to be honest I can admit that after a few days of not seeing him I will start getting worried. Why…because I fear if I'm gone for a long period of time and I was to come back…I would find out that something happen or something and he would be gone.

Immediately my eyes start burning. The back of my throat feels like it's starting to close. My heart twist painfully and my stomach gets this feeling as if I jumped off this tall building. I don't want to come back to the base and find out he's gone to never comeback. If that was to happen I…I would be….

"Oh," I say out loud as realization dawns on me.

Sasuke looks over but I ignore him. I slightly frown as I dive a little deeper into my thoughts. Okay, so I'm not just attracted to Itachi; I also like him. No that would be a lie, I…I love Itachi, it explains everything. Fuck my life, when in the world did that happen? Oh my goodness, what am I going to do? Okay, I need to calm down, he doesn't know, nobody else knows and it is staying that way because I plan on never admitting any of this out loud. I just need to act like I always do and no one will ever suspect anything.

With my new discovery falling asleep is hard. Laura went to sleep about an hour ago and I do not plan on talking with Sasuke. So with a bunch of sleepless time a head of me, I spent part of the night placing pictures into the photo album. I spend another part of my time staring at the sky, trying not to think and trying to force myself to sleep.

Long useless hours later as the fire is dying, the sun starts crawling over the horizon. Sighing, I get up and stretch. After hearing the pops, I take out the rest of the food and separate it in three small piles, with the exception of the dango that I got to replace the stash I stole from Itachi. The pile meant for Laura, I wrap up and place it in my coat for her to have later.

About an hour later Sasuke wakes up. I hand him share of the food. He doesn't say a word, not even his usual Hn. He must not be that much of a morning person. Shrugging, I eat my food while taking a few sips of water every few minutes.

After breakfast, Sasuke puts what little fire is left out. I go into Laura's and my tent and carry Laura out. Sasuke goes through the process of taking down the tents and putting them away. Once Sasuke finishes, he starts walking off and I follow carrying Laura on my back.

As we're walking little white flakes start falling down. My eyes blink a few times before it clicks in my head at what I'm seeing. I smile, never having seen snow before with the exception of TV and movies but that doesn't count. It's cool but so cold and there better be heat on at the base.

"Morning," Laura mumbles sometime later.

"Good morning," I reply.

"Are we there yet," she asks as she starts rubbing her eyes.

"Almost," Sasuke replies.

"Good," I reply shivering slightly. I'm going to need some hot chocolate.

"It's snowing," Laura says as she holds out her hand catching a few snowflakes.

"Yep," I reply with a small smile. "Later, after bundling up in a lot of clothes, I'm going to come out and play in the snow."

"Aren't you a little too old to do that," Sasuke asks.

"No," I reply with a slight glare. "This is my first time experiencing snow, so I will go play in the snow." I'm so going to hit him with a snowball.

"It's really cooooold," Laura says. "But you get to drink loooots of hot chocolate."

"That's fine with me," I reply with a chuckle. "Well not the cold part."

Laura laughs and I laugh along with her. Sasuke says nothing like his usual self. Pulling out Laura's breakfast and hand it to her. She thanks me and I give her a small nod. Not long after we are entering the base. I set Laura down and she runs ahead.

"We're back," she yells.

"My student," I hear Kisame say. "How was your first mission?"

"Kisame-sensei," Laura yells back just as Sasuke and I walk into the room. Laura is giving Kisame a hug. "It was good but…." Laura then pouts. "I don't want to stay in Konoha."

Kisame looks confused and I don't blame him. Sasuke doesn't say anything to explain, he just continues walking to the hallway, probably to go give a report of the mission and stuff. I look over to my recliner to see the paper I put on it still there. Happy, I go over to my recliner and set down letting out a sigh.

"I'm here, yeah," Deidara says as he runs into the room from the hallway.

His hair is slightly messy. Laura's eyes light up and she lets go of Kisame and runs over to Deidara. They hug each other and Kisame is glaring at Deidara. He's sure is protective of her, which is my job. I'm not complaining about them so what's wrong about it?

"I missed you," Laura says as she looks up to Deidara with a small blush and smile.

"I missed you too, yeah," Deidara says with a grin and starts leaning down to her.

Suddenly, Kisame was beside them and places his hand between them. Deidara glares and Laura is pouting. Kisame narrows his eyes at Deidara and takes Laura away from Deidara. It looks like another fight is going to start.

"Stop it you two," Konan says walking into the room. Ah, Konan has come in the nick of time.

"I didn't do anything, yeah."

"You were getting too close to my student," Kisame says as he moves to stand in front of a pouting Laura.

"No fighting," Konan says giving them both a glare.

"Yo," I say with a wave feeling a bit ignored. Usually I don't mind, but really I would like a 'hello' or 'welcome back' every once in a while.

"Welcome back," Konan says looking over with a small smile. "Your clothes have been washed yesterday and are in your room."

"Itachi's room," I say trying to force myself not to blush. Okay, acting like I normally do may just be a bit of a challenge.

"It's Itachi's and your room," Konan says and I can feel heat slowly crawl up my neck to my face.

"I suppose," I mumble. "Thanks for getting my clothes washed."

"You're welcome," Konan replies.

"Where is everyone," I ask.

"Kakuzu and Hidan are in the training grounds," Konan replies.

"Sasori-Danna is in his room creating some new poison or something, yeah."

"Itachi was sent on a solo mission he'll be back tonight," Kisame says.

"And Leader is speaking with Sasuke," Konan says.

"Nice," I reply getting up and stretching.

"Laura," Sasuke says walking into the room. "Kahlan, leader wants to speak with the two of you."

"Why," Laura asks as she skips out from behind Kisame.

Sasuke shrugs and starts walking away. Laura pouts and follows. I wave to the three of them and follow after the two of them. There's a lot of twist and turn but we eventually stand outside two large double doors. Leader sure does want to feel important. Sasuke knocks on the door, then enters without waiting for Leader to say anything. That is just rude, but Laura and I follow in with him.

"Sasuke has informed me that the two of you know about the deal," Leader says looking up from a small pile of scrolls.

"Hai," Laura says crossing her arms and pouting. "I'm not staying in Konoha."

"Sasuke has also informed me about your resistance of wanting to stay."

"Um…is there anyway a compromise can be made," I ask.

"One has been made," Leader answers. "They wanted to send some of their ninja over here but that I will not allow. I have written the possibility of sending two of my members over to Konoha instead."

"Which members," Laura asks.

"Sasori and Konan," Leader replies.

"Could you also add the possibility of us going back and forth…something like we go there and stay from Monday through Friday but come back to the base for Saturday and Sunday?"

Leader seems to think my words through before slowly nodding. He picks up a brush, dips it into ink and then starts writing down on a scroll. A few minutes later he hands the scroll to Sasuke.

"That can work," Leader finally says. "That way you both can still train with Kisame and Itachi here." Leader then turns to Sasuke. "You are to take that back to Konoha. You're dismissed."

Sasuke nods then walks out of the room. Leader then turns to us. Laura looks unhappy, but I don't think there's anything I can do for her.

"The two of you won't be going to Konoha right away," Leader says. The pout on Laura's face disappears replaced with slight confusion. Leader holds up a scroll and continues, "Tomorrow, the two of you will be leaving with Deidara to Iwa to hand this to the Tsuchikage. It's a four day trip there so be sure to pack what you will need. You'll have another mission when you get back. You are both dismissed, send in Deidara when you see him."

"Okay," I reply grabbing Laura's hand and walking out with her.

"I refuse to stay in Konoha," Laura says with a small glare.

"We'll run away if we have to stay there," I reply with a chuckle placing my arm around her. "I wouldn't want to stay there either."

"Can we run away from Konoha," she asks with puppy eyes.

"You can," I reply patting her shoulder. "I'll only run away if I'm forced to stay. Now you can send Deidara to Leader and maybe try to spend some time with him out of sight from Kisame and Hidan. I'm going to go take a shower."

"Okay," Laura replies as a blush starts appearing on her face. I chuckle and send her down the right hallway to the living room so she doesn't get lost then head to the room I share with Itachi.

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**That's the end of this chapter. I'm glad Kahlan has finally admitted to herself about her feelings, but she's going to keep it a secret. Damn Kahlan why must you be so stubborn? As for the compromise, the reason why Konan and Sasori was pick will be explained in a future chapter, sorry. As for the mission to Iwa and Deidara being pick, he was born and lived there for a majority of his life so he would know it better than anyone else in the Akatsuki.**

**Anyways, we hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	20. Chapter 20: Quality Time

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 20**

_**Note: Never back down from a battle or you may lose something precious.**_

~Laura's POV

Okay so left, right, left, left, left then a right? I think you walk that way anyway… okay I KNOW you walk that way to get to the living room! It takes me about ten minutes to actually get to the living room since this place is sooooo confusing! I am horrible with directions so this is against me completely!

"I'm here~" I sing while skipping into the living room with a grin, it took me quite a long time but I got here~ I look round the room and see Kisame and Deidara on opposite sides of the living room while Konan seems to be sitting on the left sofa with a book in her hands, reading it from the look of it~

"Welcome back," Kisame says from his side as I wave a little then hop over to Deidara who seems to chuckle at my hopping, not my fault I seem hyper all of a sudden~ I am super like that.

"Leader wants to see ya~" I sing while poking his side, causing him to chuckle a little more while giving me a small glare, standing up after I poke him.

"Okay, got cha, yeah," he says with his usual grin before poking my side, causing me to whine as he walks off with his grin towards the direction of Pein's office… I have forgotten where it was… damn my memory sucks sooooo badly!

"Meanie," I say while sticking my tongue out at his back before walking over to Konan and glomping her, causing her to chuckle a little and hug me back. "I missed Konan too," I say while snuggling her with a small whine, I really missed everyone but Konan, Kisame-sensei and Deidara the most!

I see Konan smile a little while slowly pulling away with a smile, "I made some Sata-Andagi," she says with a smile as I blink… if I remember right those are Japanese style donuts… Ohh I wanna try~

"Yay~" I sing while letting Konan softly pull me into the kitchen where there are plates of all these little balls of sough.

"These are Sata-Andagi," she says while picking up a plate and handing me it, I carefully take it with me to the table and sit down on chair before trying these little balls… oh my god these are AWESOME! "I'm packing some for your mission tomorrow," she says with a smile which makes me want to glomp her… Konan is the nicest Akatsuki, argument OVER~!

I grin and try a little dough ball and hum with delight and loving-ness THESE ARE EPIC AWESOME HAPPY BALLS!

I try another one and cannot help but hum at the awesome epic happy taste; they taste like doughnuts but better! "I love," I hum while eating another and humming at the epic awesome happy taste.

Konan smiles to me while sitting down with a plate of her own before eating her own little plate of Epicness.

"I would ask if you could teach me how to make these but I might blow up the kitchen," I say while laughing and pushing my now finished plate away… okay it has one little dough ball but that's for Deidara even if he does have a plate of his own… probably.

"I can teach you, even if you may destroy my kitchen while learning," Konan says in a joking tone as I blink and laugh a little; don't say I didn't warn you Konan. I hum a little while licking my lips and humming at the lovely memory, it was ALMOST as good as the ramen from Ichiraku… oh my god that was godly ramen.

"I'm back, yeah," Deidara calls while walking into the kitchen/dining room with a blank look on his face while walking over to the table as I lean my chin back to see him walk over.

I lift my hand and wave to him as he walks over with a grin, I quickly pick up my plate and show him the… Sata-Andagi… I think it was called that at least.

"Here~"

"Ha-ha, thanks, un," he chuckles while taking the little doughy ball off of my plate and plopping it in his mouth, chewing it as I grin~ he seems to like it~ "it's great, yeah," I grin at that as I jump out my seat while waving to Konan, maybe we can do something without Kisame and Hidan ruining it as always.

"I have an idea, yeah," he says while grabbing my hand and pulling me out the kitchen/dining room and squeezing my hand while doing so. I squeeze Dei's hand back as he softly pulls me through the living room, earning a dangerous glare from Kisame who leaves through the base opening with a backpack… he must have got a solo mission or something~

I follow Dei to his room… I can tell by the dark blue door, he opens it after unlocking it, never trust the other members it seems, before pushing the door open and holds the door open for me as I jog/skip in with a grin.

I look round his room as many clay statures are around the room and a few photos which are beside his bed which is bigger than the one I had back at the apartment but smaller than the one back at Kahlan's house so… it's like a mix between a big and a medium… not really sure.

I then look to Dei as he starts taking off his cloak before chucking it on his bed, taking his pouch off of his waist… that's his clay pouch since he uses it a lot when he's reeeeaaaally annoyed or pissed. He throws it to me which I catch horribly, meaning I am on one leg while stretching a little to catch it… that was horrid!

Deidara chuckles to me as I balance myself out and stand up properly and not heading for the poor-poor ground. "Nice, yeah," he says as I stick my tongue out at him as he plops down on his bed and I follow him to his bed as he starts emptying his clay pouch.

I watch with glee as his palm mouth takes a bite out of the clay as he pulls me onto his lap… which causes me to blush horribly… nuu make it go away~! He shows me his hand as his mouth spits out the now damp clay which he clenches in his hand a few times before opening his hand to see a little birdie… so cute! So tiny! I waaaaant~

"Here, yeah," he says while passing me the little birdie which flaps its wings a little while opening its mouth.

"Soo cool~" I sing while throwing the birdie up a little as it stays in the air for a second or two before floating down back into my hands… soo cute! Dei grins a little while picking the bird up from my hands and puts in on the covers in front of us before passing me a bit of damp clay… did he… while I was playing… probably.

"Try making something out of that, yeah," he says as I nod my head a little while fiddling with the clay till I form a… somewhat destroyed bunny… poor bunny. He chuckles a little while putting his hand behind mine and moves my fingers carefully to shape the bunny better. I watch carefully as his hand fits behind mine so… nicely… as he shapes the bunny with ease, making it look so cute and cool.

My eyes glitter while looking at the now perfect bunny… so cute… so-so cute!

"So cutee~" I sing while looking over the adorable bunny which is in my hands, we gotta bunny and a birdie now~ "like Dei," I say with a blush while moving the bunny in my hands as it comes to life like the birdie but the bunny is moving its nose a little while moving around in my hands… its soo cute!

"What, yeah?" he questions as I see him blush a little but stick my tongue out at him while playing with the bunny, its soo cute and it has floppy ears! I yawn a little while stretching out in my spot.

"Dinner is ready," I hear Konan call as I shift a little in my seat till Dei lets me up and I put the bunny down and to the side beside the birdie, maybe I can see them later or maybe bring them to Iwa with me… I shall puppy eye Deidara for them.

"Let's go, un," he says while grabbing my hand and leading me towards the kitchen/dining room where most of the members are, meaning Kakuzu, Pein, Hidan, Konan, Kahlan and Sasuke are at the table and seem to be eating some sort of soba, soup, meat and veggies which I will not touch at all.

"Hello~" I sing while waving to everyone while Konan, Kahlan and Pein at least have the manners to respond while the others don't, meanies. Konan welcomes me back with a smile and nod while Pein just nods and Kahlan says 'welcome back' while everyone else seems to ignore me… well Sasuke says 'hn' but that's about it.

I plop down in an empty seat while Dei takes the seat beside me, making me blush a little as he grins while picking up his chopsticks as I do the same. Everyone bows their head and says Itadakimasu before eating as I do the same. The soba tastes amazing for the record as well as the miso soup… I think its miso at least.

I happily eat the food while watching everyone talk along each other over the dinner table as I glance from everyone but always return to my food… lovely food.

I quickly finish my food before walking to the kitchen to wash up since I'm normally the first one to finish, I get it from my dad and I'm proud of myself~ I pour the soapy goodness into the water and stay washing the dishes with the tune of 'Waka Laka' which is an epic hyper song~! Its epic and its hyper.

I look backwards a little as I feel arms wrap round my waist and blush a bit as Dei grins to me as I wash my plate and now his.

"Yo, yeah," he says as I shiver a little for some reason… am I cold or something? I don't feel cold though.

"Yo~" I mimic while washing up the dishes as everyone starts giving them to me but I finish when Hidan is the last one and is still eating, I don't want him telling sensei and Dei getting hurt cause of it. "Let's go~" I sing while grabbing Dei's hand and pulling him out of the kitchen, heading for Kisame-sensei's room so I can pack for tomorrow then go to Dei's room to sleep, Kisame-sensei snores super loud and I don't wanna… sleep in the same room with him… Dei snores a bit but I can deal with it, he isn't near as loud as Kisame-sensei.

I stop outside Kisame-sensei's door and look to Dei while tilting my head to the side, "you coming in so I can get my stuff?" I ask as he glances to the door then to me then back to the door then straight back to me again.

"I'll wait here, yeah," he says with a grin while I see him trying his best not to panic a little, Kisame-sensei has been trying to kill Dei the last couple of days.

I nod my head to Deidara before opening the door and walking in, closing it slowly while turning the light on and grab a random backpack that Konan got me, she got me about five of them saying that on hard missions that backpacks don't last very long… I kinder see why.

I quickly pack some kimonos and put my underwear and bras inside of them before packing them into the large backpack before putting all of the necessities into my backpack before sighing and zipping it up, I think I got everything I need~

I nod to myself while getting my short kimono style PJs and quickly change into them, the kimono style PJs are just tight black shorts with a kimono tank top which has white vines coming out from everywhere, it's awesome looking and very comfortable.

"I am ready~" I sing while jumping out the door and glomping Deidara who happened to be standing outside still, very close to the door.

"Whoa, yeah," he says while chuckling while hugging me back with his cute grin. I really-really love Dei's grin, its soo cute and other things that I shouldn't say out loud. I slowly let go before grasping his hand with mine while letting him lead me to his room with my backpack in hand~ I am ready for Iwa~ super-super ready~!

"I am ready~" I sing while watching Dei unlock his door again before opening it and I put my bag down before skipping/jogging over to the clay bunny which is lying down on the bed just gets up when I jog/skip over to it.

"Hello~" I sing while petting it before yawning and stretching a little. Dei laughs for a second before going to his closet and pulling out something as I pet the bunny, so cute and… has no fur… Nuuu!

I slowly crawl onto his bed before lying on my front while petting the bunny who just twitches its nose while letting me pet it nicely.

"Are you sleepy, hmm?" Dei asks while sitting beside me while watching me pet the bunny, so cute. I nod my head a little while petting the bunny before sitting up and falling backwards back onto the bed while stretching~ so soft this bed~ "Okay, yeah," he says while throwing some covers over me while plopping a pillow down on my face… Nuuu! Darkness!

I giggle a little while pulling the pillow away to see Dei falling backwards to see me with a grin on his face as he chuckles~ still so epic and weird~ I watch Dei as he yawns loudly and widely while covering his mouth which makes me giggle a little more, he leans his head into the pillow while looking to me with a sleepy smile which is insanely awesome and cute! No not cute ADORABLE!

I smile a little back then glance to the clock to see its almost ten pm… does the Akatsuki always have their dinner so late or is it now that they are in their own world?

I yawn myself while curling up a little, using the covers to cover my mouth as I pull the pillow he threw to me under my head, snuggling close to it as I feel Deidara wrap his arms round my waist and pulling me closer and… into his neck.

I yawn loudly into his neck which makes him chuckle and lets me snuggling closer… so-so warm.

I close my eyes while letting sleep take over, snuggled close to my favourite… yeah favourite guy. My dad shall come close second and my brother shall come dead last.

"Laura," I hear someone call my name as I whine loudly into whatever I am hugging… so-so warm! "Laura… Laura we have to get up, yeah," I hear the voice again as I whine more while opening my eyes a little and feel the familiar warmness… I think… I am in bed… with Deidara. I slowly look up to the voice to see Deidara… yep I'm alive.

"Time to get up, un," he says softly while pushing some of my bangs out of my eyes as they slide right in front of my right eye which is also the side I have been sleeping on… the right side.

I whine a little more while sitting up closely after letting him go, I rub the sleep out of my eyes while glancing round the room for the clock and bunny, the clock says half pass nine while I cannot find the bunny.

"Bunny… bunny," I whine a little while looking for it as Deidara sticks his hands into his PJ trousers before showing me a little mini bunny.

"It ran out of chakra, yeah," he says sleepily as I slowly bring my hands from my eyes…that makes sense. I slowly stand up as my legs feel really heavy and sleepy now. "Bathroom is that way, yeah," he says while pointing to the white door in the corner of my room as I slowly nod my head before crawling back onto the bed and peck his cheek, still a little drunk from sleep.

"Morning…" I say sleepily back while smiling a little, Deidara seems to blush a little before grinning and pecking my lips.

"Good morning, yeah," he says back a little less sleepy then me as I nod my head before rubbing my eyes, standing up slowly but more steadily then before. I slowly walk over to my backpack; get out a red kimono out of my bag which has my underwear and bra, in it before slowly walking over to the white door, turning the knob before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind me.

I yawn loudly while putting my kimono inside the sink with my underwear and bra on top of it, the kimono is red with black stars all over it while my matching underwear and bra are red with black lace, they all look epic.

I yawn a little more while stripping off of my kimono and bits while turning the shower on, testing the water before getting in, pulling the gray; I cannot see a thing through this thing; shower curtain round the shower. I stand in the water for a while to wake myself up before using some of the shampoo and body wash before standing in the warm water a bit more, I reach for the soap and sponge as I hear some knocking on the door.

"Hey, I-I need to go, yeah." Dei says with a shudder which makes me grin a little while feeling the warm water against my skin. I think for a moment as I look to the shower curtain and try to look through it but… yeah I cannot see a thing… not even colours.

"The curtain is drawn~" I sing after a moment and hear the door open, and ninja feet enter. I sigh a tiny bit as the water turns a perfect temperature and use the soap and start to use them. I cannot hear anything over the running water of the shower which calms me completely.

"I'll go wash my hands in the kitchen, yeah," Dei says which snaps me out of my little calm moment as I realize Dei is there… why wouldn't he just use his own sink? Weird cute ninja. I listen as the door closes and I wash myself down before jumping out of the shower carefully and dry myself off.

I yawn a little before looking to the sink for my kimono and under…wear… and… bra… oh skit.

I cover my face with my towel as I feel heat rise quickly to my cheeks and neck… I am such an idiot! Baka! Baka! Baka! Baaaakaaaa! I should be baka slapped.

I take a lot of deep breathes before quickly changing into the two things then my red kimono with black stars, its epic as heck! I still feel like a baka though…

I slowly walk out of the bathroom casually while seeing if Dei is in the room… which he isn't… all clear.

Being ninja like-like a ninja. I carefully grab my bag and put it on my back while walking out of his room and head for the kitchen… I'm a little hungry. Maybe Konan has something nice ready like pancakes or even more Anpan? I hope its super nice like yesterday~

I yawn a little while walking into the kitchen to see Konan eating some sort of pastry and only Kahlan, Itachi, Sasori and… Deidara… are in the room… where is everyone else?

"W-Where is everyone?" I ask while looking to the side to hide my still visible blush. Kahlan gives me a look since she can see the blush from her angle as can Itachi who raises a brow but says nothing.

"Everyone is out on missions, Leader-sama is in his room, still sleeping while Sasuke is getting ready to go to Konoha in a minute," she says as I eye Itachi who seems to be eyeing me back… I can eye people back you know Mr. Uchiha~!

"I am joining you three on your mission," Itachi says as Kahlan snaps her head to him and Deidara just simply glares since we all know that Deidara hates Itachi for many reasons.

I nod my head while going to the kitchen and quickly stuffing down some of these super pastries before skipping to the dining room… why won't my blush leave! It's being a meanie right now as well!

"Let's go," Itachi says while standing up which causes Kahlan to stand up, putting some of the spare bits of pastries into a scroll as I pretend to yawn a little as Dei grins to me, he seems to be blushing as well… oh heck… he did see.

"Let's go, yeah," Dei says while grinning a little while grabbing my hand and squeezing it a little harder than normally. I smile a tiny bit while squeezing his back as we walk out the base with Kahlan and Itachi is tow.

"Can we fly, yeah?" Deidara asks me with such adorable looking puppy eyes that I reeeeaaaally wanna hug him right now… soo-sooooo cute!

I whine a little which causes him to puppy eye me a little more… okay I am hugging him right now.

"Can we on the way back?" I ask softly while hugging him, causing him to grin brightly while hugging me back.

"Yeah, un," he says back while grabbing my hand once we pull away and starts leading the way while keeping me beside him or at least a little bit behind him.

I yawn a little while waving to Kahlan who smiles and speeds up a little to see me, "how did you sleep?" she asks as I shrug my shoulders a little as my blush becomes a little more visible.

"I slept fine, and you?" I ask with a grin as she also blushes a little bit for some reason before shrugging her shoulders as well.

"I slept quite well," she says with a smile as I grin back and grab her hand with my other hand before I glance back to Itachi.

"Itachi you joining~" I sing while giving him puppy eyes which he eyes carefully before sighing a tiny bit which I hear for a split second before walking slowly beside Kahlan, his hand near hers which she eyes carefully~ take his hand Kahlan~! Take his hand it won't bite… at least I don't think it will! That is a very scary thought.

"Laura, yeah," Deidara says as I watch Kahlan carefully eye Itachi's hand but nod my head to show I am listening. "When we get to Iwa, my teammate will be showing us to the Tsuchikage's office, so don't fight a lot with her, alright, yeah," he says as I nod my head… what's the worst that could happen anyway?

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

**Will Kahlan hold Itachi's hand? –Shrugs- No idea, we'll have to wait for the next chapter.**

**Anyways, we hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	21. Chapter 21: A Small Fight

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

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**Chapter 21**

_**Note: No matter how much you may hate to stand by on the sidelines, sometimes you just have to let your friend fight their own battle.**_

~Kahlan's POV

With a small sigh, I look ahead. This whole new discovery thing is killing me. I should have never named any of it or thought about it because now I'm putting myself through torture. Argh, this was all so much simpler and…I just need to relax. Damn you Leader I freaking cruse you, you never mentioned anything about Itachi coming with.

"You should do it," Laura whispers.

"What," I say whipping my head to her with slightly wide eyes.

She gives a grin, glances over to Itachi then back at me. I shake my head quickly. She gives me puppy eyes but I refuse to give in so I look forward. I can feel my insides going crazy and my face starting to heat up. Damn it, does Laura know? No one is supposed to know. I must not be doing a good job of acting like my normal self. Stupid acting skills suck. Fuck my life, I hope to God no one else knows.

"Why not," Laura asks innocently.

"I don't want to," I reply with a shrug. "And even if I did I'm not going to," I continue as I place my free hand in my pocket.

"What are you two talking about, yeah?"

"Nothing," I reply fast with a small glare in his direction; "at least nothing to concern yourself with."

"Okay, hmm," Deidara replies looking away. Laura giggles and I give her a small glare. She pretends to zip up her lips and I nod in thanks.

As we continue on the long journey, I realize how uncool it is to walk in snow after about ten minutes. Letting go of Laura's hand, I wrap my arms around myself shivering and my teeth chattering. And it's not like there is a lot of snow because really there's very little. But as I have mentioned before I am a Floridian and therefore this is becoming way too cold for me. Yeah…I don't plan on playing in the snow. What sucks is I already have on like three jackets and I'm still cold.

I watch as Deidara takes off his cloak and puts it on Laura. She looks up at him and he grins at her.

With a slight pout she asks, "What about you?"

"I'll be fine, yeah," he replies as he grabs hold of her hand. "This isn't that bad, un."

"S-S-S-Speak f-f-f-for yours-self," I say through chattering teeth. "Th-This is f-f-freaking f-f-freezing."

Deidara shrugs as he places his arm around Laura's shoulder and pulls her closer. Laura slightly blushes and I look ahead. A moment later something warm and heavy is placed on me. Slightly confused, I look at the material to see a long thick black coat/cloak. Looking up I see Itachi placing his Akatsuki cloak on.

"I-I-I-I c-c-can't t-t-take th-th-this," I say removing the coat off my shoulders and hold it out to him.

"You need it more than me," he replies.

"I-I-I'll b-b-be f-f-fine," I answer.

He takes the coat back, but before I can do anything he's placing my arms through the coat. I stand frozen with slightly wide eyes as heat starts traveling up my neck to my cheeks. Laura is giggling behind her hand but I'm too shocked to glare at her to be quiet.

"You're shivering," Itachi says looking me in the eyes. "And I will not allow you to freeze yourself to death." He doesn't say it out loud, but my mind supplies the rest of the sentence, 'because you're too proud.'

I want to frown because that isn't the reason why I refuse taking his coat/cloak. Does it not cross his mind that maybe I don't want him to freeze? Probably not, but I guess that's something to be thankful for. And since I'm trying to act like my normal self (though it seems to be a failure with Laura) I go along with the pride part and glare at him instead. And I know the glare sucks because his brow lifts just slightly.

"Whatever," I mumble and go to walk around him not wanting him to be in front of me anymore. I shall secretly enjoy wearing this coat as I resist the urge to inhale his scent. God dammit, I am not some teenager anymore I need to get a better hold of myself.

"Thank you," I say a few minutes later after we started walking again feeling a lot warmer than before.

He nods in reply and I bite down on my lower lip to keep myself from smiling. I place my hands in the coat pockets. Laura and Deidara seem to be in their own little couple world. Hehehe, I have brought my camera for sneak attack pictures.

Hours later, after taking a few breaks, and Laura got a piggyback ride from Deidara we are still walking. Usually I can walk for a long time, but this cold weather is making me extremely sleepy so I'm stumbling around a lot. I think Laura is already asleep but Deidara doesn't seem to mind. Yawning, I rub my eyes, then open them wide, blink a few times all the while continuing to walk trying not to stumble.

"Kahlan," Itachi says.

"Hmm," I reply as I look over at him.

"Do you need to be carried," he asks.

I feel my cheeks slightly heat up, but I'm not that bothered since I already know my cheeks and nose are red from the cold. "I'm fine," I reply repressing a yawn.

"Just carry her, yeah," Deidara says and I shoot him a glare.

Itachi ignores him and we continue walking in silence. My eyes start getting heavier as I start moving slower. Shaking my head to wake myself for a few moments, I speed up going over to Itachi.

With a small tug on his cloak sleeve I ask, "Do you promise not to drop me if you guys do any tree jumping?"

He stays silent for a few seconds then replies, "I promise."

I give him a sleepy smile as he bends down a bit. I climb onto his back, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Laying my head down on his shoulder I close my eyes as I feel him starting to walk.

"Thank you," I mumble feeling myself drift off to sleep.

I wake up feeling warm. Yawning, I stretch out and then sit up confused. I look around to find myself in a room with two beds and two doors. There are two small tables, one beside each bed and I'm on one of the beds with a bunch of blanket on me, which explains why I am extremely warm besides the heat being on in the room. On the other bed is an Akatsuki cloak so I at least know I'm still with the Akatsuki. The walls have blue wallpaper decorated with a swirly white flower pattern.

The sound of running water comes from the blue closed door so I assume it is the bathroom. The other close door is a light brown and must lead to outside. Well, that's all nice to know.

Stretching one last time, I let out a sigh once my bones make their popping sound. I push off the covers and start taking two of the coats and then place Itachi's coat back on. My eyes land on the clock to see it's a little past six.

Not knowing what to do, I lie back down and stare at the boring white ceiling. Thankfully, a few minutes later the bathroom door opens and I turn to see Itachi walk out dressed wearing a black long sleeve shirt and blue-ish grey pants while drying his hair with a towel. For a moment I watch him as he walks over to the bed that has his cloak then look back at the ceiling.

"Where are Laura and Deidara," I ask as I look back over at him.

While continuing to dry his hair he looks over at me. I give a small wave as I sit back up. He replies, "They're sharing a room right across from us."

I nod in reply then ask with a slight frown, "We're not going to be sleeping outside?"

"Is that where you want to sleep," he asks as he seems to finish drying his hair because he places the towel down at the foot of his bed.

"No," I reply with a small shake of my head. "I just wasn't expecting to be in a room."

"We were 'tree jumping' while the two of you slept to cut down on time," he replies. Oh thank god I was asleep for that.

"What are we going to do about dinner," I ask feeling my stomach grumble as he starts to brush his hair.

"We're going out," he replies and I flop down onto the bed pulling the covers over me. My face starts heating up as I glare at the cover. How can he say something like that with such little nonchalance? Never mind, that's just how he is, no idea why I asked that.

"Do I have to come with," I ask, my voice slightly muffled.

"I can bring you back some food if you want," he replies. I smile slightly then frown as I sit back up letting the covers fall.

"You don't plan on going out in the cold with wet hair do you?"

He slightly raises his brow but doesn't say anything. There's a knock on the door and I almost jump in shock.

"Kahlan are you awake," asks Laura from the other side.

"Yeah," I reply pushing the covers off and getting out of bed. Itachi walks over to the door and opens it. I smile at him as I walk over then turn to Laura. "Hey."

"Hey," she replies with a smile and gives me a hug. I return the hug. "We're going to leave for dinner soon are you coming with?"

"Sure," I say with a smile as I pull away. "Just give us a moment."

"Okay," she replies with a grin and then head over to the identical door right across the room. "They're coming with," she says in a sing-song voice as she enters the room.

I smile softly as I close the door then turn to Itachi. "You need to dry your hair some more before we go," I say sternly before walking into the bathroom. I see another clean towel that's dry and grab it. Walking out I throw it at him and he catches it. "Otherwise you'll end up catching a cold, and if that's what you want then you can walk out with wet hair, the choice is yours."

He doesn't say anything but does place the towel on his head. With a nod I head back into the bathroom and start searching for a blow dryer. There has to be one around here somewhere. Searching…searching…oh look I found it in the cabinet below the sink. Not even going bother to wonder why in the world it would be there.

"Itachi," I call out the open door as I plug in the blow dryer. A few seconds later he's standing in the door way, drying the end of his hair with the towel I threw at him. "Use this instead," I say as I hold out the blow dryer for him.

We exchange the two items. I place the towel onto the hanger rack thing that's for the shower while he turns on the blow dryer and starts using it on his hair. I cover my mouth as I laughed since it just seemed so weird seeing him use it. He looks over and I shake my head then walk out of the room. Hmm…should I or shouldn't I take a sneak attack picture? Nah, I won't do it…this time around. I'm going to go check on Laura and Deidara.

Walking out, I take the few steps over to their room and knock on the door. It opens a couple seconds later revealing Laura. She grins and I smile back.

"Are you guys ready," she asks.

"Not yet," I reply. "We have to wait on Itachi."

"What's the Uchiha doing, yeah," Deidara asks coming up from behind Laura, his cloak not on.

"Stuff," I reply with a shrug. "So where will we be going?"

"To this small restaurant not that far away, yeah."

"This is going to be fun," Laura says sounding very happy.

"I guess," I reply with a small smile as I place my hands inside the pockets of Itachi's coat.

"Well we're not going to wait on the Uchiha, yeah," Deidara says as he places his hand in Laura's hand and takes a step out of the room.

"No," Laura says as she tugs on Deidara's hand with a small pout. "We go together."

"I pick Laura's side," I say.

Laura looks over at me with a grin then looks back at Deidara giving him her puppy eyes. Deidara mumbles something under his breath and Laura makes her bottom lip tremble. I tilt my head watching with a small grin as Deidara sighs.

"Fine we'll wait for the Uchiha but only this one time, yeah."

"Okay," Laura says happily and I chuckle.

A few moments later Itachi walks out his hair up in its normal style and his cloak not on as well; I guess they're going cloak-less. Deidara gives him a glare while Laura gives him a small wave. I nod my head seeing that his hair looks mostly dry.

"We're going now, yeah," Deidara says then starts walking with Laura. She quickly closes their bedroom door. I shake my head and follow behind the two of them with Itachi beside me.

We walk out what I suppose is an inn or hotel or whatever they call it here into the cold night air. Fuck did the temperature drop. I should have never taken those extra jackets off. Whatever, I can live with this Deidara said the restaurant wasn't that far away.

After about a few minutes, we reach the end of the street. Deidara walks into a small looking restaurant that has a bunch of paper lanterns hanging from the roof. I can't read the name so I don't even bother trying as I continue follow him and Laura into the warm restaurant.

A waiter walks over to our group. The waiter gives us a smile and bows, he then motions for us to follow him. The four of us follow him to a small booth-ish table. He places down some menus and takes a few steps back. Deidara let's Laura sit down first and I take the seat opposite here. Deidara then gets in sitting beside Laura and Itachi sits down beside me.

"I will be back in a moment," the waiter says with a small bow then walks off.

Laura looks down at her menu and pouts. She then looks up at Deidara who is looking through his menu.

"Deidawaaaa," she says and I can't help but chuckle. "Do they have ramen?"

"Uh…." He says for a moment with a slight blush and starts looking through the menu. "Yeah, they have pork, miso, chicken…."

"I'll take the chicken ramen," Laura interrupts happily.

Deidara chuckles and replies "Okay that was quick, yeah."

"Do you want ramen as well," Itachi ask me.

I shake my head and reply, "I want something with rice and pork."

Itachi nods and picks up his menu. I watch him read through the menu for a moment then turn to glare at the menu meant for me to use. Argh, how am I supposed to be learning this language if Laura and I are sent out on missions and if we're in Konoha? Hmm…maybe I can ask Itachi to continue the language lessons during the mission.

"There's katsu kare," Itachi says a moment later and I look up at him. "It's a rice curry with a deep fried pork cutlet on top."

"I'll give it a try," I reply with a small smile. He nods then turns back to the menu.

A moment later the waiter comes back with a small bow. "What will you all like this evening?"

"Chicken ramen and water," Laura replies with a grin.

"I'll have bakudan and water as well, yeah."

"Katsu kare with…green tea please," I say as Itachi takes my menu.

"Gyudon with green tea," Itachi says as he handing over the menus.

"Alright," the waiter replies taking the menus. "I'll be back soon."

"I bet ten ryō that Ichiraku's ramen is better," Laura says after the waiter is gone.

"Okay," I reply with a small smile. "If you're right I'll pay the ten ryō."

Deidara then starts a conversation with Laura gaining her attention. My eyes look around the relaxing restaurant. It has a very homey feel to it, I actually like it.

"Itachi," I say as I look to the man. He glances over. "Can we continue with the language lesson during the mission...maybe tomorrow night?"

He stays silent for a moment then replies, "We can do that."

"Thank you," I reply with a smile.

The waiter shows back up placing down the food then drinks. We each bow our heads saying Itadakimasu then start eating. The katsu kare taste amazing with this slight sweetness to it, so it makes me not want to add salt. Laura is the first one to finish her meal claiming that Ichiraku's ramen is better, and like I promised I pull out the ryō that's in my pant pockets and hand it over to her.

After dinner, the guys are the ones to pay for the meals. We all then walk back to the hotel/inn or whatever you want to call it. Laura yawned sleepily placing her head on Deidara's shoulder. When the four of us are standing outside our bedroom doors I bid the two of them goodnight and walk into the room I share with Itachi.

Inside our room I head for the bathroom. I take a shower. Afterwards, I go through the process of getting out the purple pajamas I bought and then brush my teeth. Walking out I head to the bed I woke up in and got under the covers. Itachi disappears into the bathroom for a few minutes then comes back out wearing his own pajamas then goes to the other bed.

Grabbing one of the pillows, I hug it tightly since I had left Rellik at the base. The lights get turned off and I just stare at the dark celling until I fall asleep. In the morning, we all went back to the restaurant for breakfast and then started back on our mission.

During the rest of the trip the temperature continued to drop and started snowing again. Not even halfway through the second day and I had asked Itachi to start carrying me. Deidara was carrying Laura from the beginning. Itachi allowed me to climb on his back and carried me. With the two of us on their back they did their tree jumping. I had tightened my hold on Itachi and buried my face into his back. Sometime during the tree jumping I fell asleep.

At night we made camp outside. Deidara and Laura shared a tent and obviously I shared a tent with Itachi. After getting the camp set up and eating dinner, Itachi started back up on our language lessons, going over what we did last time and quizzing me then he'd start on the new lesson until I got sleepy.

In the morning I'd wake up finding myself closer to Itachi then when I went to sleep and was almost snuggling up to him. I had quickly got up and left the tent thanking God Itachi was asleep and I woke up before him. I was the first awake so I started a small fire for breakfast and when the others got up we all ate then back to traveling.

Right before we started traveling I once again asked if Itachi would carry me. Laura was grinning over at me but I completely ignored her grin. Hey, I knew I was going to be having a hard time keeping up since the weather was getting colder and it is known I don't do well with the cold. Itachi wasn't complaining since he did allow me to get on his back, again. Of course this resulted in them tree jumping and again I buried my face into the crook of his shoulder as I held on for dear life. Laura doesn't seem to mind the tree jumping, and if I wasn't so afraid of heights I might enjoy it too.

We went through the same thing on the third night as we did with the second night. In the morning I woke up to find myself in the same position as the morning before, and again I had quickly got out of the tent. And again I had ask Itachi to carry me. Meh, I felt like I was getting lazy, but honestly I wasn't because I did end up falling asleep from the damn cold as it started to snow while he and Deidara did their ninja stuff.

I wake as I feel Itachi slowing down and starting to walk. With a yawn I look around while rubbing my eyes. I notice a lot of rocks getting buried under snow. Ahead of us is this large gate, almost as large as Konoha. I'm guess we are reaching our destination.

"You can put me down," I mumble sleepily.

Itachi stops walking and slightly bends his legs. I unwrap my arms and legs and get off his back. We start walking, catching up with Deidara and Laura. I slap my cheeks a few times trying to wake myself up. It just wouldn't be right showing up half awake.

We soon reach the gates, and I can honestly say…I'm still tired but I at least look like I'm wide awake. Standing at the gates is some person with short black hair and black eyes. They're wearing some red outfit with one long sleeve and the other sleeve missing with a brown-ish vest type thing, fishnet tights, the normal ninja shoes and the headband is on their forehead. I don't remember this person's name in the manga but I do remember seeing them.

Their eyes look over me and Itachi and land on Deidara. "You actually did show up Deidara-nii," the person says with a small grin. Their eyes then land on Laura who is holding Deidara's hand. "What's with the little kid?"

Laura immediately glares and says, "I'm not little I'm fun sized and I'm not a kid."

"Kurotsuchi, hmm," Deidara says in a slightly warning tone.

"Whatever you say little kid," Kurotsuchi says with a small smirk. I shake my head knowing this isn't going to turn out so well.

"Don't call me that," Laura yells glaring even more.

"Why did you bring the kid Deidara-nii?"

Before Deidara can reply snow splats Kurotsuchi in the face. She wipes the snow off her face and turns to see Laura getting ready to launch another one. She glares and Laura sticks her tongue out as she throws the other snowball. Kurotsuchi dodges and goes to hit Laura. Itachi lets out a small sigh and I look up at him to see him close his eyes. I look back at Laura and Kurotsuchi to see them fighting some sort of hand to hand combat. Normally I would step in to bring it to a stop, but I think this is something Laura should handle on her own since Kurotsuchi seems to have some sort of history with Deidara.

"I should have known this would happen, yeah," Deidara mumbles.

"Go Laura," I cheer and Deidara shoots me a glare. I grin but keep a careful eye on the fight.

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**Well Kahlan didn't hold Itachi's hand but she did get a piggyback ride from him, lol. Anyways, we hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	22. Chapter 22: Tsuchikage

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 22**

_**Note: When frightened by jutsu, hide behind someone taller then you.**_

~Laura's POV

I am annoyed as hell right now!

"I am not little damn it!" I yell while catching her fist as she catches mine.

"Then why are you smaller than me, little kid," she says with her smirk as I glare and push as much chakra to my feet and my hands as I can. I balance the chakra out right, feeling the water escape and watch with glee as Kurotsuchi slips backwards while letting go of my hands as they become soaking wet.

"Ha~" I sing while standing on top of the water with chakra as she glares at me before making some hand signs to a jutsu I do not know… she knows mostly lava and earth style… uh oh! "Deeidaawaaa!" I squeak while running behind him as he is chuckling for some reason, Kahlan looks like she is also stopping herself from laughing while Itachi looks pretty bored… whoa he IS an Uchiha!

"You little-!"

"Enough," Itachi says while looking to Kurotsuchi then to me as she gets out of the puddle of chakra water, hey she was being super rude and I was defending my height. "Kurotsuchi, your mission is to escort us to the Tsuchikage," Itachi says sternly while deactivating his Sharingan, "if you may," he says with a tone that more or less means 'end of conversation' as she rolls her eyes slightly at Itachi before turning on her heels and walking into the large gates.

"You guys coming or not," she calls back with a small grin as I glare at her for a second but let Dei pull me the way as I try my best to stay away from her, she is a meanie!

I cling onto Deidara's arm as Kurotsuchi starts talking about what has been happening around the village and while we are visiting what places to visit. I continue to stay beside Deidara as he starts chuckling every now and again since whenever Kurotsuchi would look back to us I would stick my tongue out at her which causes a small argument to break out till Itachi gets everything back on course, SHE'S A MEANIE!

I yawn a little while walking through the long streets as many people are whispering, murmuring and some are even yelling; must be because Kahlan and I are wearing Itachi and Deidara's Akatsuki cloaks, it's really cold and Deidara won't take it back. Itachi won't take his back from the look of it either.

"Oi, keep up the pace, we're late as it is," she says while glancing back to us, leading towards this huge building with a Japanese kanji symbol on it, I shall take it as the village's name. "Thanks to someone, I'm not naming names," she says with a smirk while glancing back to me with her smirk as I glare and leap at her only to be held back by Deidara who is chuckling so cutely… must… resist… glomping… oh heck with it.

I glomp Dei while grinning and sticking my tongue out at Kurotsuchi which causes her to glare at me before looking forwards and I turn my sights to Dei who grins while hugging me back. I hum in delight at the warmth before letting him pull me softly as we follow the group, I blush a little as he rests his arm round my shoulder while keeping me close and warm… I really-really like this.

Kurotsuchi still names stuff out to us like some sweet stores and inns and other bits as Dei and I start talking about the most random things… like what festivals are coming up in Iwa soon, he said there was a fireworks show tonight for the anniversary of the Tsuchikage becoming… well the Tsuchikage~

I grin while listening but look up to the Tsuchikage's office with dread… so many steps!

"Here we go, yeah," Dei says while picking me up carefully while walking up the long row of steps and after Itachi, Kahlan and meanie/Kurotsuchi who are a little ahead of us.

I grin happily while clinging onto him and burying my face into his neck which makes him chuckle a little as I look up; watching him walk up the looong flight of stairs… I think I can just barely see the top of the stairs~ sooooo looong!

I whine to him as we walk up the stairs which seems really easy for Dei and Itachi and Meanie but just watching them is making me really tired. I yawn a little into his neck while watching the steps slowly fly by and we slowly get to the top of the building and everyone walks into a room which is very-very bright.

"Yo gramps," Kurotsuchi greets Onoki as I resist going outside and throwing a snowball at her, this is the 3rd Tsuchikage and your grandpa and that's how you greet him? Lovely.

Onoki glares at Kurotsuchi from the little gap I can see of him as he starts yelling at her.

"You… you idiot, who do you think I am!? I am the Tsuchikage, feared as Iwagakure's Ōnoki of Both Scales!" he yells at Kurotsuchi who only chuckles a little at him with a smirk.

"Was feared gramps, how about retiring, can't rely on your former glory forever," she says while smirking at him as Ōnoki seems glare at her more as I also glare. I would never talk to Ōnoki or my grandpa like that. Ōnoki seems to look EXTREMELY annoyed by that but I decide to join this.

"Don't be soo mean to Ōnoki-san! You meanie!" I yell childishly from Deidara's back as she glares at me for a second before turning to me to also lash out it seems.

"You are not even in this conversation, you shouldn't even be in the Iwa nor should you be with Deidara-nii," she says sternly back as I cling onto Deidara tighter, I don't like where this is going, "A stone ninja should be with another stone like a leaf with a leaf and sand with a sand, you are from no village meaning you can't-"

"That is enough, Kurotsuchi, (yeah)," both Ōnoki and Deidara bark out, Deidara seems really-really-really annoyed right now since his eye from what I can see is narrowed while Ōnoki looks very annoyed as there is a hugeee tick back on his forehead… meaning a visible vein from anger… Dei has one too.

"What Deidara does is none of my concern nor is it yours," Ōnoki barks out as I look between Kurotsuchi and Ōnoki, Ōnoki looks annoyed as heck while Kurotsuchi is clenching her fists while looking out the long huge windows. "Everyone here is a guest, you shall not speak rudely to them," he barks out more as Kurotsuchi still looks annoyed at me as I hide behind Deidara before nodding her head, seeming to get his order.

"Hai," she says while refusing to look back to me now but is looking to Ōnoki, Itachi and Kahlan.

I look between the groups as Itachi walks over to Ōnoki who is at his desk before handing him the scroll that I remember Pein was writing in before. "A scroll form leader," Itachi simply says while handing him the scroll which he opens up on his desk before reading it over and glaring at the scroll.

"An alliance between the Akatsuki and the rest of the kages… impossible," he murmurs while looking up to Itachi who's facial expression doesn't change as he Ōnoki looks back to the scroll before clenching his hands and sighing ever soo loudly. He doesn't say anything as he opens his desk and pulling out a plain scroll before writing on it with his ink stuff and brush. I watch as he starts writing random kanji down which I do not understand.

I move a little on Dei's back till he lets me down and let's the feelings return to my legs, having to move my legs a little bit till I get the feeling back into them. I look to Ōnoki as he sighs while moving his back around which makes Kurotsuchi grin till he glares at her before looking to Itachi who seems to be watching Ōnoki.

"This if for your leader's eyes only," he says sternly to Itachi who shrugs and somehow makes the scroll disappear into his cloak… EPIC! I stare at Itachi for a while before yawning a bit and leaning into Dei's side which is super comfy… I know this very well.

I look sleepily up to Ōnoki who glances to me which I spare a small sleepy smile while snuggling into Dei, holding onto his coat for support while he already has his arm round my shoulder to help me stand.

He seems to look shocked for a second before looking to Itachi smiling the most fainted smile I have ever seen.

"You four can stay with," he pauses for a second before looking to Deidara, "Deidara's family, I am sure they wouldn't mind it at all," he says as Deidara's eyes widen at this.

"What?! When did I agree with this, yeah?!" Deidara yells his question while Ōnoki glares at him.

"Do not question me! Do not forget, Deidara, how scary I can be," Ōnoki threatens as Deidara seems to mutter something under his breath about a 'art-hating sack of wrinkles' and 'should go die already' which makes me poke him with a pout, making him chuckle a little while giving me a small glare which I grin at; no need to be rude.

"Let's go~" I sing while waving to Ōnoki but not to Kurotsuchi as he chuckles a tiny bit while watching me forcefully drag Deidara out of the room before he starts yelling at Ōnoki again.

I see Kahlan and Itachi follow us down while I now softly pull him down the long stairs as we get to the bottom of the stairs, he seems a little annoyed still but that will change in a second.

I lean up a bit for him since he is just taller than me and peck his lips which seem to change his mood completely as he grins a little before glancing back to Kahlan and Itachi who seem to be talking about something interesting.

I grin a little while letting him lead the way to the east… I think and somewhere I do not know where we are heading. Maybe…his house…or something to…do something maybe? I hope… well I hope it's his old house at least… I actually wanna see what his family is like and well… maybe embarrassing if I want to.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	23. Chapter 23: Family

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 23**

_**Note: No matter what, bonds between family members can never be broken.**_

~Kahlan's POV

While walking I ignore all the stares, the pointing and whispering. I really find it rude when people do that, but keep my mouth shut. I am a guest in this village and it would be rude of me to go off on them. Two wrongs do not make a right, but it does make an L. Okay that was a failed attempt at a joke.

Anyways, I straighten my posture slightly raising my chin and pull the lovely warm Akatsuki cloak closer (damn this thing is a bit big on me). If they want to stare then they can but I will be damned if I will just walk by with my head down.

"We're here, yeah," Deidara says as we stop in front of a large-ish house with a red door.

"Do we knock," Laura asks looking up at Deidara.

"Or can we just go in and get out of this damn snow," I ask.

Deidara knocks on the door. There is a loud childish yell saying 'I got it.' There is a voice of a guy yelling 'don't randomly open the door for strangers get back here.' Whoever the person is they completely ignore him as they swing the door open. Standing in front of us is a little girl probably almost four feet. She has blue eyes that match Deidara with chest length black hair in pigtails. She is wearing blue kimono with red roses all over it.

"Nii-san," she yells as her eyes widen.

A huge grin takes over her face as she throws herself at Deidara and tries to wrap her arms around his waist. Pulling out my camera I take a picture because it's just too cute to not take one. Itachi looks at me and I give an innocent smile as I place the camera into one of the many hiding pockets of his cloak.

"Hello Mitsuko, yeah," Deidara says with a small chuckle as he wraps his left arm around her.

"Mitsuko I said get back here," says a boy walking to the front of the door.

The boy is tall like…no idea but he's tall with short blonde hair (think Sai short) with a long side bang over his right eye. He is wearing a red long sleeved shirt with only one sleeve on his left, red pants with a red lapel (I think that's the term) on the right side, black ninja shoes with his headband on his forehead. His visible blue eye widens when he sees Deidara but then goes to normal when he looks over at us.

"Nii-san is back," Mitsuko says with a grin and then sticks her tongue out at the other…brother I guess.

"I can see that," the boy replies.

"And as you can see I brought over some guest, yeah."

"Hi," Laura says with a grin as she waves at the two of them.

Mitsuko looks up at Laura with wide eyes, never removing her arms from Deidara and asks, "Who are you?"

"I'm Laura," she says as she grins at Mitsuko.

"Guys, you're letting out the heat," comes another voice sounding like it belongs to a female. "Get inside now or I'll go and cook lunch."

The boy makes a face then says, "Come on and get in before Rin ruins lunch."

"I heard that," shouts who I guess is Rin.

"Rin," Mitsuko yells as she finally let go of Deidara and runs into the house. "Nii-san is back, and he's holding hands with a girl!"

Deidara slightly blushes but doesn't let Laura's hand go as he walks in with Laura. I follow them in with Itachi. The brother closes the door and I let out a happy sigh feeling heat hit my almost frozen cheeks.

"Holding hands with what girl," asks a girl as she walks out of some room with Mitsuko dragging her by the hand.

The girl has blue eyes with shoulder length hair and clips holding her bangs back. She's wearing a red jumper with only a long left sleeve which ends a little past the elbow, red shorts with a red lapel on the right side, black ninja shoes and her headband is on her forehead. She looks like she's almost as tall as Itachi give an inch or few centimeters.

"Hello I'm Laura," says my best friend as she smiles and waves at…well I'm guessing it's Rin.

"I'm Kahlan," I say with a small wave.

"Itachi," says the man next to me as he gives a small polite bow of his head.

A small grin starts getting on Rin's face and she asks, "So Deidara-nii-san, did you get a girlfriend?"

I cross my arms looking to Deidara to see how he would answer this. I support them being together, but it was never stated if they were officially together. Now with his family here I'd like to see how he replies. He is with my best friend and if his answer upsets Laura in any way then he better watch his back.

Anyways, a small blush sprinkles across Deidara's face. Laura face immediately becomes red as she looks down, but neither of them let go of the other's hand. Mitsuko looks between Deidara and Laura slightly sticking her bottom lip out almost in a weird thinking type of manner.

"Hai Laura here is, yeah," Deidara replies his face going a little more red. Laura face becomes even redder letting go of Deidara's hand to wrap her arms around his waist.

"I like her," Mitsuko says with a chirp as she slightly bounces on her feet. "She looks pretty."

The brother goes to open his mouth to speak, but another much older and definitely female voice speaks up saying, "Do not make fun of Deidara for having a girlfriend." And walking into a room is a woman with long black hair tied in a high ponytail with a middle parting fringe as well as having the similar sky blue eyes. She looks to be around the same height as Rin and is wearing a black kimono with some sort of red flower pattern.

"I wasn't going to," the brother replies.

"Hello," the woman turns to us with a motherly type of smile. "I am Inuyuki, it's nice to meet all of you and to see you again Deidara."

"Nii-san," Mitsuko says as she runs over to Deidara and then grabs his free hand along with Laura's free hand. "Are you and…Laura going to stay?"

"Just for the night, yeah."

Mitsuko pouts then her eyes brighten, "Can I come traveling with you?"

Deidara looks at her a bit confused and looks up to his other siblings. Inuyuki shakes her head mouthing something to him. Deidara nods and then looks down at Mitsuko giving her a small sad-ish smile.

"Gomen, but you can't come with, un."

"Why not," Mitsuko asks with a slight whine and looks at him with puppy eyes.

"Because the traveling I do is very dangerous, yeah."

"But I wanna come with," she says her bottom lip trembling. I slightly frown and look away. That is one heartbreaking look and I'm glad I'm not the one receiving it.

"I'm sure Deidara wish you could come with too," I hear Laura say and turn back to see her squat down at eye level. "But Deidara can't take you with because…there are really scary meanie people and he wants to keep you safe so you'd have to stay here with the rest of your family."

Mitsuko's eyes widen in horror and she then throws her arms around Deidara. "You should stay away from the dark nii-san," she says. She then let go of Deidara and throws her arms around Laura. "I won't come with but…." She looks up giving them both puppy eyes with a bottom trembling lip and watery eyes. Oh, this girl is good. "Promise to send me a letter everyday so I know the scary meanie people don't hurt you."

"I promise, yeah," he says with a grin as he pats her on the head.

"I'll write you a letter too," Laura says with a happy grin.

Mitsuko's face brightens up and she hugs them both. I smile, take my camera out and take another picture. Everyone (with the exception of Itachi) looks over at me and I smile innocently hiding the camera behind my back.

"Kahlan," Laura says with a pout.

"I couldn't help it," I reply. "It was a cute scene. I'll find a way to make copies."

"How many pictures have you taken on this trip, un."

"A few," I reply with a slight 'I-don't-know' shrug, as I go and place the camera back in the hidden pocket.

Technically, that's my third picture, the first one I took was a few days ago one morning back in the hotel/inn/whatchamacallit place. I had gone into their room to wake them up. When I saw them cuddling in their sleep I had gone to get my camera, came back and took a picture. I had to run out since the flash went off and Deidara sort of started to wake up. But they don't need to know…until sometime later in the future.

"I'll go make us all a quick lunch and we can do some talking," Inuyuki says.

"I'll help," the brother says. You know I really hate calling him that, when is he going to give us his name.

"Okay," Inuyuki replies and starts walking off into what may be the kitchen or at least in the direction of the kitchen with the brother following her.

Mitsuko claps her hands then looks at all of us. "Let's have a tea party until lunch is done."

"Sure," Laura replies with a grin.

"Okay, hmm," Deidara replies.

"I'll get us some real tea," Rin says and heads in the direction the other siblings disappeared to.

Mitsuko looks at us all with wide puppy eyes making her bottom lip tremble. I chuckle with a slight shake of my head.

"Where is the tea party going to be at," I ask.

"Right there," she points to the small long table with cushion looking seats surrounding it. I nod and all of us walk over to the table. Mitsuko takes a seat first, and then Laura and I, then Deidara takes a seat next to Laura.

"Well thank you for the invitation to the tea party," I say with a smile. "I've never been to a tea party before."

"Never," Mitsuko asks with wide eyes in shock.

"Never," I reply honestly. I then look over to Itachi who is still standing where he has been this entire time. With a small smile I wave him over saying, "Come on join us…please." I see Deidara shoots Itachi a glare that Itachi completely ignores.

"I'll have to decline this time," Itachi says.

Mitsuko looks over at Itachi with watery puppy eyes, bottom lip trembling and starts sniffling. "You d-d-don't want to j-j-join my tea p-party?" Deidara is now glaring daggers at Itachi. I resist the urge to smack Deidara. Itachi frowns ever so slightly and I decide why not join Mitsuko in trying to convince Itachi to join the party.

I look down then slightly look up as I make my voice take on a soft tone and say, "You're going to make her cry. You should join us please. Plus I want to share this experience with you."

I hear Laura giggle and feel my face start to heat up. That last sentence wasn't meant to come out. Itachi's brow rises as he looks a bit confused. Ignore the last sentence that left my mouth and the heat rising to my cheeks.

"Join us pleeeeeeeeease," Mitsuko pleads and lets a single tear fall down her cheek.

"Back," Rin says as she walks into the room holding a tray with a teapot and teacups on it. She stops as she looks at what is happening.

"I'll join," Itachi finally says and starts walking over and then sits next to me. I'm not sure if I should be happy or cursing myself…ah I'm going to secretly be happy.

"Yay," Mitsuko says, all traces of tears suddenly gone. Now Deidara doesn't look happy.

"Okay then," Rin says and walks over with the tray. She places it down in front of Mitsuko and then sits beside her. "They're making onigiri for lunch."

Mitsuko smiles then hands everyone an empty teacup. She then carefully picks up the teapot and pours everyone some tea. When finished she places the teapot back down and then smiles at everyone.

"Usually my tea parties have small cakes, but since we're having lunch soon there won't be any cakes this time," she says with a small pout.

"If you wanted sweets you should have said something," Rin says.

"I always have my tea parties with sweets. Always," she says with a nod as she crosses her arms.

"Gomen, I didn't know," Rin replies looking apologetic.

"Don't worry about it, we can have another tea party before I leave tomorrow and that one can have sweets, yeah."

"Really," Mitsuko asks with a huge grin and wide eyes.

"Hai, un," Deidara replies with a grin.

"I'll love to try some of the sweets tomorrow," Laura says with a smile.

"Okay, we'll have another tea party tomorrow morning with sweets," Mitsuko says with a cheer.

"That would be lovely," I say with a smile.

Deidara's family doesn't seem all that bad. It's really cool how they seem to have no problem with Deidara being here. I think they're all happy to see him, and it was obvious from the start Mitsuko was happy to see him. Mitsuko also likes Laura and I think they're going to get along great. I hope the others like Laura or they're at least kind to her.

With a small smile I turn to Itachi as I pull my camera out. "Smile just a bit." He doesn't smile but hey I wasn't really expecting him to. "This will be fun." I place my camera between the two of us then whisper, "I am even going to allow you to use my camera to help take sneak attack pictures, because there is going to be a lot of sneak attack picture worthy moments." Okay, I don't know that for sure, but I'm going to bet on it that there will be with Deidara, his family and Laura.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	24. Chapter 24: Fun in Snow

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 24**

_**Note: Bombs are not allowed in the house.**_

~Laura's POV

Today has been pretty great~ though I have no idea who the heck his brother is… he is brother number one till I get his name the no named person. Also his sister rocks and well the three sisters rock since they are awesome like their brother… the older one… though the younger one is taller which I do not understand but yeah… oh well~

I try the tea and try my best to not spit it out… personally I hate tea with a passion. I must resist myself from throwing up my breakfast along with my tea.

I take another sip but end up tipping the cup a little bit upwards so no one can see me spit it back into the cover… oh my god I hate tea.

I slowly feel a warm hand on my forehead as I ever so slowly place the tea down, the taste of the horrid stuff just multiplying in my mouth.

"Laura, you okay," Kahlan says as I turn a little to her as she pulls her hand away, she knows I hate tea like she hates coffee a lot.

"Yeah," I say as loud as I can while smiling a little, I feel really sick right now… I hate tea. I slowly lean against Dei as I stare at the teacup before looking away… I feel like I'm going to puke… but at the same time I don't.

Feeling my stomach turn, I move to the side to bury my face into Dei's shirt, breathing softly as my stomach starts to calm down.

I feel myself being pulled into the warmth as I whine softly in my throat. My stomach really hurts. "Is Laura okay?" I hear Mitsuko asks while closing my eyes and just listening carefully to the steady sound I can hear… sounds like a heart beating.

"She's just tired, yeah," Dei says right above me as I whine a little while moving closer, stomach is turning and not in a good way.

"Does she need a nap?" Mitsuko asks as I curl up into a ball, listening carefully to the heart beat… it's so calm and addicting to listen to.

I yawn a little bit while turning to face the table from where I am and open my eyes slowly; my stomach feels a tiny bit better… not having any tea though. "I'm fine," I say while opening my eyes and smiling a little, this feeling is Dei's lap and I do not plan on leaving it anytime soon.

"Okay," Mitsuko says while grinning while drinking the horrid tea as I smile to everyone, no doubt I look pretty pale right now. I grin to her a little while moving a little in his lap till I am comfortable. I have to turn my head to the side as Dei drinks his tea so I do not have to watch nor breathe… I really don't like tea and the taste of it.

"We're done," Dei, Rin, Inuyuki and Mitsuko's brother says since I do not know his name… what is his name anyway? I watch as him and Inuyuki walk in with a tray of different types of onigiris and I have no idea what is what.

"Who are you?" I ask innocently to the older brother who eyes me for a second with his… only visible eye before nodding to himself.

"My name is Ren Iwakaru," he says as I blink, so Deidara's last name is Iwakaru? Deidara Iwakaru… not bad~ kinder epic awesome like pancakes.

"Rin's twin, yeah," Dei says in my ear as I look to Rin then to Ren then back to Rin then back to Ren… they kinder have the same face as well. I nod my head softly while leaning back against Dei as they set the onigiri down on the table.

"These looks yummy~" Mitsuko says while picking up a PINK onigiri which I eye as she takes a bite out of it and grins, "I love it~" she sings as I watch Deidara pick up a small red coloured one which looks very weird to me.

"Try this, yeah," he says while breaking a chuck off of the rice ball before showing it to me, right in front of me. I feel my cheeks heat up meaning I am blushing a bit. I open my mouth a little as he grins and feeds me the food… this is so embarrassing.

"It's great," I say softly while lowering my face a little as I blush, blushing level five!

"Ren do not say what you are planning to say," I hear Inuyuki say as I look up to Ren who closes his mouth but seems to smirk for some reason.

"My turn Nii-san!" Mitsuko sings while leaning over the table to also try the very nice onigiri. Deidara grins a bit more while halving what is left of the onigiri before feeding it to Mitsuko who starts giggling while eating it. "So yummy."

"It is~" I sing while picking up my own onigiri, "Itadakimasu," I sing while nibbling on my onigiri, its soo lovely and kinder salty but also kinder sweet this one.

I watch as Inuyuki sits down beside Rin who is digging out on the onigiri as well as Ren and Mitsuko while Itachi, Kahlan, Deidara and I eat normally. I can't help but glance round this living room and see lots of pictures along the walls.

There is one with the whole family plus a man with bright blue eyes and blonde hair which also has a side fringe but his seems to be pushed to the side in the picture while he is standing at the back of the photo. There is also another woman who is smiling while holding a baby with black hair which matches her own but it isn't Inuyuki. From the look of it she has gray eyes and in front of them is four children, the tallest one looks like Inuyuki with her blue eyes and black hair with Deidara right beside her who is grinning, his hair is still long and he has his normal fringe. Ren and Rin are the same height and they both look so alike in the picture that you cannot tell who is who… never mind I cannot tell who is who! I am guessing that the baby in the photo is Mitsuko.

I smile to the photo before facing everyone again. A small argument has broken out against Ren and Mitsuko while Inuyuki is trying to keep calm which doesn't look like it's working.

"That is enough," she yells at them which causes them to be suddenly quiet.

Mitsuko pouts with puppy eyes while Ren doesn't seem to be bothered as he picks up another onigiri before eating it as everyone starts up their own conversations again like the little fight never happened.

I yawn a little while covering my mouth and lean back against Dei who doesn't seem to mind at all as he wraps his left arm round my waist, warming me up even more.

I watch a small flash appear in the corner of my eyes as I rub the weird light thing in them. It's an evil light not the good kind!

"Kaahlaaan," I whine slightly as she grins while hiding her camera behind Itachi who continues nibbling on his onigiri like nothing happened~ oh~ evil masterminds!

"I'll go wash the plates," Rin says while grabbing all of the empty plates before walking off in the direction… that I am guessing is the kitchen.

I look to each family member before looking up to Deidara then the family picture, everyone has sky blue eyes so it must be a strong trait or something… yeaaaah I'm going with something.

"So," Kahlan says while looking to each family member, "what is there to do in Iwa?" she asks as I think that through, nothing is really said about Iwa but that it is surrounded by rocks which makes an amazing place to stay in case of war.

"Well, there is a lot of snow outside, we can also play out in it," Inuyuki says with a smile as my eyes shine a little, snow sounds super-super epic right now! I nod my head with a grin as Mitsuko seems to jump to her feet before running to the hallway~

I call the snow~! I grin to myself while slowly standing up and taking Dei's hand to also pull him up. He chuckles a little as he does the buttons on the Akatsuki cloak up… I am still wearing the cloak for the record.

"Hey Deidara-nii-san! Show me some fireworks," Rin says while walking into the hallway as I see her pulling on a red coat with red buttons. Deidara grins suddenly while reaching into his pouch but stops as Inuyuki yells.

"No explosions in the house!" she yells as Dei rolls his eyes while taking his hand out of his pouch and into his jacket's pocket. I giggle a little while watching him pout a little before follow Mitsuko and Rin outside into the pure white snow… soo pretty!

"Let's make a snowman~" Mitsuko sings while grabbing both mine and Dei's hand before dragging us further into the snow as she starts rolling up a little snowball and it soon becomes the size of her head… whoa she works quick!

"I wanna join~" I sing while hopping over to her and help her roll up the snowball which is about the size of my head now. "Dei help~" I sing while grinning to him, causing him to chuckle and slowly walk over to us with his jacket and slowly starts helping us roll the now very huge snowball.

"That's the body done, yeah," he says while clapping his clearly numb hands as Mitsuko quickly starts on the second snowball as I sneeze a little, Bleh, my nose is frozen.

"What are you guys doing," I hear a familiar voice asks as I quickly hide behind Deidara as he turns to the voice, "Playing in the snow is so childish, wouldn't expect anything from your sister and the little kid-"

"I AM NOT LITTLE!" I yell while glaring at the familiar voice which is Kurotsuchi as she smirks and walks over to us as I continue to hide behind Dei who is a very great cover.

"Do you need anything, Kurotsuchi, yeah?" he asks as I quickly go off to Rin and Mitsuko who are talking while Mitsuko doesn't seem very happy right now.

"I have a plan," I say with glee as Rin gives me a small grin, something she seems to do a lot like Deidara seems to grin a lot, "attack Kurotsuchi with snow~" I sing with a grin as Rin nods her head with her grin.

"Alright, launch as many snowballs as you can when I give the signal," she says as I nod and help Mitsuko make as many snowballs as we can in a few minutes.

"Get set… LAUNCH!" Rin yells as Mitsuko and I as well as Rin grab as many snowballs as we can and aim at Kurotsuchi. Rin's hit on target while about five of mine hit… aha… I have horrible aim when it comes to snowballs… and Mitsuko… well more of hers hit Kurotsuchi then mine do!

"That's it! This is war!" Kurotsuchi yells while making some snowballs and starts throwing snowballs at us, leaving Dei just standing there and getting hit by some stray snowballs.

I giggle while throwing the snowballs but effortlessly dodge the snowballs like Mitsuko and Rin who dodge without even trying at all… whoa soo cool! Like ninjas!

"Deidaawaa~" I sing while glomping him which results in him going to the floor. I'm epic like that! "Got cha," I sing while hugging him on the floor, I am more epic and awesome like that~ I didn't think Dei would go to the floor so easily though. He's a ninja isn't he?

"What do we have here," I hear a male voice asks and I remember its Ren. I sit up on the snow before looking backwards to him, smirking with a thick red coat on with Itachi and Kahlan standing behind, both of them in new coats. "If you are going to do stuff like that do it inside," he says which makes Dei sit up and glare daggers at him… what does he mean? I am sitting on the snow while hugging Dei? How is that weird?

I see Kahlan glare at him for a second before sighing as Itachi doesn't seem to be effected by it at all as he walks pass everyone and starts to help Mitsuko build her snowman, causing her to grin and hum while building the lovely-dovely snowman.

"Ren!" I see Inuyuki as she yells and gives him a good whack on the back of the head… ouch that looked like it hurt a LOT!

Ren flinches forwards while scowling at the sky, Inuyuki walks pass him with her coat on and smiles to us all, "we'll be going shopping a minute to get a kimono for everyone for the festival tonight," she says as I nod my head a little before looking to Dei with a grin, I cannot wait for my very first real Japanese festival.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


	25. Chapter 25: Festival

1zara-uchiha1 and I don't own the Naruto cast or anything else you might recognize. 1zara-uchiha1 owns Laura and I own Kahlan. Together we own the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 25**

_**Note: Festivals are fun no matter what world you're in.**_

~Kahlan's POV

I watch Itachi helping Mitsuko with making the snowman. A small smile graces my face seeing Mitsuko says something to Itachi. She spreads her arms out as far as they can go and make a circular motion and then stands on her tips toes as she makes her arms move up towards the sky. Itachi nods in reply giving her a small smile and then they are both once again working on the snowman.

I look over to Laura and Deidara. Laura is still hugging Deidara while he's glaring over at Itachi. Ren is rubbing his head, Rin and Kurotsuchi still are having the snowball war, and I think Inuyuki has gone inside. With a grin, I take a picture of everyone with the exception of Inuyuki obviously.

"Kahlan," Laura whines and I chuckle.

"Will you stop taking picture, hmm," Deidara asks.

"Hmm…let me think about it," I reply as I tilt my head, look up to the sky and tap my chin. "Nah, never going to happen," I reply a few seconds later with a smirk.

"Okay everyone," Inuyuki says walking out from the house. "It's time we leave to go buy some kimonos for tonight."

"Do I have to come with," Ren asks as he looks around at the snow is distaste.

"Hai," Inuyuki replies.

Ren grumbles something under his breath. I look over to the others. Deidara is helping Laura up to her feet. Rin and Kurotsuchi are trying to smash a snowball in each other's faces. Mitsuko has hold of Itachi's hand and is pulling him towards Inuyuki.

"Ren stop," Inuyuki calls out as she grabs hold of Mitsuko's hand. "Kurotsuchi if you're going to stay with us to go shopping then I request that you don't fight with anyone in my family or our guest. If you can't, then please leave."

"Thanks but I better go help gramps," Kurotsuchi replies. "He might hurt his back or something."

Inuyuki nods and Kurotsuchi leaves brushing snow off her. Rin brushes snow off her and gives a small grin.

"I'm ready," Rin says.

"Can I get a new kimono," Mitsuko asks looking up at Inuyuki with wide puppy eyes.

"We can all get a new one,"" Inuyuki replies.

"Yay," Mitsuko replies with a grin.

"Uchiha let go of my sister's hand," Deidara says glaring over at Itachi.

"Deidara-nii-san," Mitsuko says with a pout. "Don't be so mean."

"I don't want the Uchiha holding your hand," Deidara says as he walks over with Laura towards his to sisters.

"Why not," Mitsuko asks pouting.

"It's fine," Itachi says letting go of Mitsuko's hand.

Deidara takes Mitsuko's hand away from Itachi and keeps hold of her hand. Mitsuko pouts and looks away from Deidara. I sigh shaking my head.

"We should go now," Inuyuki says with a slight frown. "The shops will be crowded soon."

Inuyuki is the one to lead the way. Laura starts a conversation with Mitsuko. Rin has a conversation with Deidara, and his two other sisters. I just stay walking behind everyone looking around seeing that a lot of people are busy putting stuff up for the festival tonight.

I've been to the strawberry festival before with my grandfather. I had gotten sick because I had pigged out on funnel cake, but it was so good I couldn't help it. I don't think they'll have that here, plus with how it seems things are being set up it's a lot different than the festivals I'm used to seeing back in our world.

A lot of people who see us give Deidara a weary look. Laura sticks her tongue out at them as she wraps her arms around his waist. This makes Deidara chuckle and the people to look confused.

After walking for a little bit, we reach a store and enter. The inside is warm and packed with a lot of people. There seem to be two women fighting over the same type of garment near the back. There is a child screaming its head off and another one crying. There is a small group of men leaning against the wall with a bunch of bags around them looking exhausted and talking to one another.

"This is going to take a long time," Rin says with a sigh.

"We'll try to make this quick," Inuyuki says. "Find something you like and then we'll meet up together at the checkout."

"Okay," Ren says as she walks off.

Inuyuki takes Mitsuko with her down an area for what seems to be clothes for children. Deidara and Laura walk away together. Ren and Itachi both go in some random direction by themselves. I let out a sigh as I look around. I spin in a circle two times and then walk off in a random direction as well.

The first selections of kimonos I come across are short and pink. I make a face because even though I've started wearing dresses, I'm still self-conscious and those kimonos are just too short for my liking and it's too cold outside to be wearing them. Plus the color pink is not a color I really like.

I come across another selection and they seem to be okay. I go to grab one to check it out but it gets snatched away from me. A woman with brown hair and eyes slightly glares at me and I glare back. I did nothing wrong.

"I saw this first," she almost hisses.

"Fine keep it," I say rolling my eyes. I know I love shopping, but why do other women go all crazy with it?

With a sigh, I go on to the next selection. A bunch of the kimonos are blue. I see Rin pulling out a sky blue kimono with a bunch of dark blue birds that are flying. She grins and holds it close to her. She sees me and I give a small smile and wave. She returns the smile as she walks over.

"Did you find anything yet," she asks.

"Not yet," I reply with a small frown. "I'm kind of picky."

"Well what kind are you looking for," she asks.

"Something long and it has to be purple," I reply with a nod.

"Hmm, I know where you can find some," she says with a grin and grabs hold of my wrist.

She drags me around until we seem to almost be reaching the back. She then makes a right and goes all the way down and then turns right again moving away from the back of the store. She stops and then turns to me with a grin.

"This is the collection of purple kimonos. It's a small selection; you might be able to find something."

I smile and try to remember the word used for thank you. Ah I remember now. "Arigato," I say with a small smile.

"Not a problem," she replies with a grin. "Good luck I'm going to go find my sisters now."

"Okay," I reply with a nod then watch her walk off.

When she is out of sight I start looking through the selection of purple kimonos. It's small just like Rin said it was. One of them fades to a bright pink that I decide against it. Another one of the purple kimonos are very pretty and soft, but the material is thin and wouldn't be good to wear out in the cold.

I come across this light purple kimono that has cherry blossoms on it. I know they're a pink but they're really pretty. Plus it's not like the cherry blossoms are all over the place, they are located on the bottom and on the…obi…at least that's what I think it's called.

Satisfied, I take it and hold it against me. The kimono touches the floor but once I'm in it the kimono may just barely cover my feet. The sleeves are long and big. The material is soft, but thick enough to help keep me warm. This will be good enough.

Carefully I fold it over my arm and start looking for shoes to go with the kimono. I've seen the type of shoes that are needed to be worn with kimonos thanks to Laura, so yeah my shoes won't be working. It doesn't take long and I find the shoe collection. I grab a few that look like they'll fit me and a pair of their socks. Placing on the socks I go through the process of trying the shoes on until I find the one that fits me. I then place the others back.

Finished, I head for where we are to meet up. That is until my attention gets drawn towards the accessories selection. I look through it and pick up cherry blossom hair clips. It will go with my kimono. Now that I'm finished I head to the meeting spot.

I'm the last one to show up, but oh well. We stand in the line for what seems like forever. Mitsuko is happily chatting with Laura and Inuyuki. Ren and Rin (I bet their parent's though that was really creative but I find it a bit confusing) are talking with Deidara. Itachi is being his quiet self.

I yawn feeling sleepy. Maybe I can take a nap before the festival starts. I really hope so. Rubbing my eyes, I follow behind the others as it finally becomes our turn. We all put our stuff for the cashier to ring up. I have no idea what the price is since I stop listening, but Inuyuki is the one to pay. My eyes get a little heavy as I watch the cashier place everything into some bags.

Everyone gets a bag to carry and we all walk out. We get back to the house. Inuyuki goes through the bags and gives each person a bag of what they bought. When she hands me mine, I give a small smile of thanks. I wait a few more minutes to finish passing them all out.

"I don't mean to sound rude but I was wondering where we will be sleeping," I ask.

"Oh no it's okay," Inuyuki says with a motherly smile. "Deidara's room is still the way it was before he went on his traveling so he can stay in there." She then turns to Deidara and Laura. "You can both share the room if you want."

"That's fine," Laura says with a smile.

Ren chuckles then gets a grin on his face but Inuyuki hits him upside the head and shakes her head. Ren crosses his arms with a slight glare but doesn't say a word. Inuyuki nods towards Deidara and Laura then turns back to me.

"There's only one guest bedroom," she says. "So I hope you don't mind sharing it with Itachi."

"That's fine," I reply with a small smile. "Um…I was wondering if I could take a small nap before it's time for the festival."

"Sure," she replies giving a smile. "I'll show you to the guest bedroom."

"Arigato," I say and turn to Itachi. He gives a small smile with a nod and I grin in return. Ha, I'm doing good with the lessons.

I go over to Inuyuki and she leads the way through the house to the guest bedroom. I thank her again then walk into the room. She closes the room and I hear her walking away. I place down the bag near the bed. Not caring if I'm still dressed, I climb into the bed, pull the covers over me, grab a pillow hold it close and end up going to sleep.

I wake up to the sound of a door opening and closing. Sitting up I rub my eyes and look towards the door. Itachi is standing by the door wearing a navy blue in what I guess is a male's version of a kimono.

"Time to get ready," I ask pushing the covers off.

"Yes, the others will be leaving in a few minutes," he replies reopening the door. "I'll let you get ready now."

"Okay, arigato," I reply climbing out of bed.

He nods then closes the door. I get undress then pull out the kimono. After a few minutes I'm glaring down at the kimono. I've seen Laura put one on so I thought I could do it by myself, but I'm failing at it.

With a sigh, I walk over to the door. I slightly open it and poke my head out into the empty hallway. Not taking a risk I keep the rest of my body hidden behind the door.

"I need help," I call out.

Closing the door I go wait by the bed. I pull out my scroll and go through the process of taking out a brush. Pulling the bandana off, I brush my hair. Finished I use the cherry blossom hair clips to clip back some of my hair on the side just as there is a knock on the door and someone walks in. Turning around I see Inuyuki wearing a black kimono with blue and white lotuses.

"Could you help me with the kimono please," I ask. "I've never worn one before."

"Sure," she relies with a small smile as she walks over. "You do it like this." She helps with the kimono showing the steps of putting one on.

"Arigato," I say once she finishes and takes a step back.

"You're welcome," she replies with a smile. "Everyone is ready."

"Okay," I say grabbing the socks.

Quickly I put the socks on then grab the shoes. I follow her out to the living room. Laura and Deidara are both holding Mitsuko's hand. Laura is wearing a red violet kimono with white cranes. Deidara is wearing a male kimono that is black. Mitsuko has on a blue kimono with red, yellow and purple flowers all over it. Ren is wearing a red male kimono and is standing next to Rin. Itachi is standing near the door.

"Everyone ready," Inuyuki asks as I quickly place the shoes on.

"I'm ready," Mitsuko cheers happily.

"Heck yeah I'm ready," Rin says.

"I am," Ren replies with a small grin.

"I'm ready," Laura replies with a huge smile looking excited.

"Okay, well let's go then," Inuyuki says.

She takes the lead. We all head outside following her. People are happily walking around the streets that are lit with paper lanterns. Children are running around laughing and shouting. Parents are smiling and there are couples holding hands smiling at one another.

"I'm so excited," Laura says grinning. "This is going to be so much fun."

Deidara chuckles and says, "I guess it will be, un."

"Un," Laura says as she looks up to him with a smile.

"Let's go play a game," Mitsuko says as she tries to run off with Deidara and Laura.

"Stay out of trouble," Inuyuki yells after them. She then turns to the rest of us. "Go ahead and go on if you want."

"See you later," Rin says as she grabs her brother's arm and starts dragging him off.

Inuyuki gives Itachi and I a nod with a smile then walks off. I go and stand beside Itachi. One, I don't know this place. Two if I was to get lost at least I'm with someone I know. Itachi starts walking and I stay close to him.

"Do you want anything to eat," he asks after a few minutes.

"Um…." I trail of thinking. I really want some funnel cake but I doubt they have any. "Dango," I say with a grin. Hey they are really good and one of the few foods I can actually name.

Itachi's lips slightly twitch before going back to normal. I follow beside him looking around at all the displays. They did an awesome job getting everything set up. I see a girl walk up to a man. Ever so slowly she places her hand into the man's hand. He looks down and she gives him a small smile. He smiles in return then looks back a head of him. They continue walking holding onto one another's hand.

With a slight frown I glance over at Itachi. I look down at our hands that are a few inches apart from one another. My insides are going crazy enough just being beside him, the thought of actually getting the courage to hold his hand makes my heart go into overdrive. I sigh and cross my arms to keep myself from actually holding his hand, not that I could get the courage to do it.

We come to a stop at a stand with the smell of food. I inhale deeply and my stomach rumbles. I slightly make a face as I blow out a puff of air. For a moment I watch my breath disperse before disappearing into the cold night then I look back at Itachi. He talks to the man making an order. A few minutes later the man gives Itachi two plates with dangos. Itachi nods to the man, pays him then takes the plate.

"Arigato," I say when Itachi hands me one of the plates. I've been saying that a lot today, but I like saying it. I'll eventually stop and go back to using my English language version.

Itachi nods and starts walking. I follow beside him and start munching on the dango. We walk around just eating and looking around for a while. I see a play going on and I point towards it. Itachi leads the way and we stand in the back to watch it going on. The play last about an hour and what I was able to get from it was something about a war and how Iwa was made and found. From a historical view point it was interesting. From a person who hasn't the slightest idea about the history it was a bit confusing, but Itachi did explain it to me so I was able to appreciate the play.

"Can we play a game," I ask as we walk away from the play.

"I have an idea," he replies and starts walking in the direction we came from.

I quickly jog to catch up with him and then walk beside him. We stop a few minutes later at a stall. It's about medium sized run by a man and women. There is a bunch of plates with toys on them floating in water. I watch people trying to throw something at the moving toys. One person is able to hit a frog toy. The woman congratulates the kid and then pulls out an identical frog toy. She hands it to the kid while the man fishes the other frog out of the water and places it back on the plate.

"I'll play," I say to Itachi with a small smile as I see something that catches my eyes. There's a cat looking up all adorably with wide eyes and a smile holding a flower. It's cute and something I'm going to try and get for Laura.

After waiting a few minutes it becomes our turn. Itachi pays for the game and then we are both given about five small elastic balls to throw at the toys. I ignore Itachi in favor of eyeing the cat plushie. Biting on my lower lip, I remember all the times I trained and then throw one of the small elastic balls at the toy. I miss by just a fraction, but there's no reason to complain since I have four left.

Taking a deep breath, I roll one of the small balls in my right hand. I take a small step back as I start rotating my wrist. Keeping my eye on my target, I throw with just part of my strength. I watch as the ball flies towards the floating target. I hold my breath waiting and then see it fall onto its side on the plate.

"Congratulations," the woman says with a smile. I look at her confused. Wasn't I suppose to knock it into the water? "Enjoy your prize." She then hands me an identical cat with the flower plushie.

"Arigato," I say grinning to the woman taking the prize. Hey, I'm not going to tell her that the cat never made it into the water. I watch the man sit the cat back up and then fish out a small box from the water.

"That's fun," I say to Itachi as we start walking away.

"It was an easy game," he replies.

"It was fun, but a bit different for me," I say with a small smile. "So what did you get?"

"A small prize," he replies.

I slightly frown but don't push the subject. We walk around and play a few more games. Well I play the games. I was able to win a stuff animal of a shark that I am naming Jaws. Hehehe, I so plan on giving Jaws to Kisame then take a picture of his reaction. I also win a book that apparently just came out on new origami stuff. I'll be giving it to Konan. The last prize I was able to win is a small smiley face pillow that says just smile. I got the prize for Sasuke. Each prize has been placed into a scroll that Itachi is carrying with him.

Itachi and I come across this area with a small stage. On the stage is a small band playing some unknown instruments and down on the ground are people dancing. I stop walking and watch the small crowd of people. I catch sight of Laura and Deidara dancing together both grinning at one another. Not far from them is Mitsuko dancing with Inuyuki. The music sounds amazing and sounds very upbeat.

Turning around I see Itachi has walked ahead of me. With a quick glance back to the people dancing I gather up some courage and start running to Itachi. I can dance with him as a friend.

"Itachi," I call out his name. He stops and turns to me. Reaching him I grab hold of his hand. "Come on," I say and start dragging him back to the dancing area.

He follows without removing his hand from my grasp. That makes me really happy that I'm unable to keep myself from smiling. We reach where the music and dancing is taking place. Turning to him I smile and drag him into the mix of people.

"Let's dance," I say smiling.

Itachi looks at me, then around at the people then back at me. I keep the smile on my face even though on the inside I'm starting to freak out. What if this was a mistake and he decides to reject? The smile starts leaving my face as I start letting go of his hand. I was being too brash.

"We can dance," he says tightening his grip on my hands.

"Really," I ask not wanting to get too hopeful.

"Hai," he replies with a smile.

It's a small smile but a little bit bigger than his normal small smiles (when he gives those smiles). I smile back letting my hands grip his hands again. My heart feels like, I don't know I can't place into words but it sure is beating fast that I'm surprised it just doesn't die out on me. The butterflies in my stomach are going crazy while I'm secretly enjoying having my hand in his. We start dancing and I have to say that this is by far one of my favorite nights of all time in my life. I hope Laura is having just as much as fun as I am.

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**We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story. Please stay tuned for the next update and once again thank you. Reviews are much appreciated and loved; until next time. ^.^**


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